


Until

by allwaswell16



Series: Until [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Actor Harry Styles, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Art, Colorado, Cowboy Harry, Cowboy Harry Styles, Cowboy Hats, Enemies to Lovers, Epilogue, Epilogue in Harry's pov, Famous Harry, Goats, Guitars, Hand Jobs, Hate to Love, Horseback Riding, Horses, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Mountains, Music, Non-Famous Louis Tomlinson, Only the Brave - Freeform, Outdoor Sex, POV Louis Tomlinson, Pop Star Niall Horan, Riding, Smut, Song Lyrics, Songfic, Songwriter Louis Tomlinson, heartbreak weather, side shiall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:07:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 38,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23862769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allwaswell16/pseuds/allwaswell16
Summary: Rural Eagle County, Colorado wasn’t the type of place to find a famous musician or actor. At least not until songwriter Louis Tomlinson showed up with pop star Niall Horan to visit his uncle’s horse ranch, and they just happened to find themselves next door to a reclusive former movie star.Featuring amazing art from missytearex
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan/Shawn Mendes
Series: Until [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894828
Comments: 303
Kudos: 1145
Collections: One Direction Big Bang Round 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So about a year ago, my friend [jaerie](https://jaerie.tumblr.com/) was sent out onto her neighbor's property to find a crashed drone, and somehow that turned into Louis sneaking onto neighbor Harry's property to rescue a drone. At the time, I thought I might write a little short thing about it, but somehow former child star turned cowboy Harry came to mind and never left. So I decided it was longer and set aside the idea to write for Big Bang, and now here we are!
> 
> So many huge thanks to my writing soulmate [taggiecb](https://taggiecb.tumblr.com) who I am so co-dependent on at this point that I couldn't write a thing without you.
> 
> Thank you to my amazing beta [Nic](https://louandhazaf.tumblr.com/) aka YesIsAWorld for all your encouragement and excitement and finding all my mistakes. 
> 
> Thank you to my amazing artist [Nicola](https://missytearex.tumblr.com/) for being so patient with me and creating a lovely piece for my fic. 
> 
> Thank you to the mods of the Big Bang ([Lauren](https://kingsofeverything.tumblr.com/) [Emmu](https://londonfoginacup.tumblr.com/) and [Becca](https://beccasafan.tumblr.com/)) for running this amazing fandom event like a tight ship!
> 
> And thank you to the Panic group chat for pushing me along as I kicked and screamed.

Louis watched out the window of Niall’s private jet as it touched down amidst the green capped mountains of Eagle County. Just a short flight from LA and yet it felt like a different world as he stepped off the plane and into the blue skies and fresh mountain air. If Niall were beside him, he would have flung his arms out and done a _The Sound of Music_ reenactment to make him laugh. But seeing as how Niall was still in New York, he kept the moment to himself.

Walking through the small regional airport was a far cry from the crowds of LAX, and to Louis, it was almost a promise of a slower pace. It made a lot of sense now why Niall has asked him to come to Colorado to write the next record. A year’s long world tour would probably make any one want to hide in the mountains.

He checked on all his equipment to make sure it was safely off the plane and then got in the vehicle hired by Niall’s assistant to take him to the ranch. 

“I see you’re headed to Hank’s place.”

Louis dragged his eyes away from the scenery and to the rearview mirror where he saw the driver eying him. 

“Uh, yes?” He fumbled with his phone a minute to see what the name of the ranch was. “Westmeath Gypsy Stables.”

“Yep, that’s Hank’s place alright. Pretty much the gem of the county. You don’t seem like the type that comes to buy a horse though.”

Taken aback by this, he almost said something petulant before examining himself and deciding he indeed did not look particularly like the horse buying type. “What gave me away? The white sneakers? The sweatshorts?”

In his mind’s eye he pictured a broad shouldered man with cowboy boots and a hat, maybe one one of those Western looking plaid shirts with pockets on them. 

“No. It was the guitar cases and keyboards.”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “Well, you’re right. I’m not here to buy a horse.”

He went back to staring out the window. To be honest, he wasn’t sure Niall wanted everyone in town to know he was here. Sure, this place didn’t seem too populated, but that didn’t mean there weren’t fans or people willing to sell out Niall’s location for social media purposes.

Watching the landscape out the window seemed an appropriate conversation ender. It wasn’t like he hadn’t ever seen mountains before, but he hadn’t ever seen mountains like this. No, this was an entirely different experience than the ones near him in LA. These were majestic things reaching into the clouds, not brown canyons that he drove by to get to the beach.

“How long you in town for, Mr. Tomlinson?”

“Actually not sure yet. Hank’s nephew is meeting me at the ranch for—work.”

“Work?”

“Yeah.” Damn, apparently there was some small town nosiness.

“Can only think of one of Hank’s nephews that might need a man with a guitar and a keyboard.”

Louis just smiled as politely as possible without saying anything. 

They pulled into a long, smooth drive leading past a large stream and shrubs and trees and up towards an enormous stone and wood house. Could it even be called a house? It looked like a damn compound. Leave it to Niall to have failed to mention that this was no ordinary horse ranch. No wonder the driver was so curious about what he was doing there if not to buy a horse. 

The SUV pulled to a halt in front of a rather grand entryway framed with huge wooden beams bearing a wood burned sign engraved with _Westmeath Gypsy Stables_. The driver got out and began unloading Louis’ stuff onto the porch while Louis jumped out of the vehicle and lifted his sunglasses from his face to take in his surroundings. 

Nothing but nature as far as the eye could see. Trees and water and rocks and grass and just—land, a lot of land with foothills rolling in the background giving way to the spikes of mountain tops in the distance. He squinted and saw a speck of something, maybe another building or house in the distance. He knocked at the door, suddenly feeling a little strange showing up like this without Niall. The driver stood next to the SUV and waited, which just added to his nerves. It wasn’t like he expected a welcoming committee, but no one answered the door. He tried again, ringing the bell this time. 

The sound he heard was unlike any other doorbell he’d ever heard in his life, a whistle he’d only ever heard in cowboy movies. It alarmed him enough that he looked back at the driver who just smiled.

He must have looked perplexed because the driver offered an explanation. _“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”_

“What?”

“The doorbell. It’s from a Clint Eastwood movie.”

“Oh, right.”

The sight that eventually greeted him was not that of a cowboy from an old Western, but that of a middle aged woman with a warm smile. “Well, hello there! You must be Mr. Tomlinson. I’m Hank’s housekeeper, Meg. Come on in and I’ll help you get settled.”

A bit of relief washed over him. “Thanks, Meg. And please, call me Louis.”

“Well, now, Louis, I’ll send someone to bring your things inside. They’ll all be safe right where they are for now.” She looked over Louis’ shoulder at the driver. “You get along now, Greg, and stop gawking. Haven’t you ever seen a good looking young man before?”

Louis glanced back as Greg, looking a bit red in the face, quickly got back in the SUV. 

“Sorry about that, Louis. We don’t get too many visitors who look like you, now do we? You and Niall will be quite the stir around here, I’m sure. Maybe just as bad as when Harry first arrived.” Meg continued on without pause to explain. “Now, let me show you to your room. We’ll set you right up in an opposite wing to Hank that way you and Niall can bang about on your instruments anytime of the night without waking him up.”

“Thanks, Meg.” As he walked alongside her towards a hallway of what appeared to be guest bedrooms, he took in the tall, wooden-beamed ceilings and glimpsed the huge stone fireplace and so many windows instead of walls, just looking out onto the vast mountains and ranch lands. 

She opened a door that led to a lovely bedroom styled similarly to what he’d seen of the rest of the house, wood mouldings and a wood planked ceiling, an intricately woven rug on the floor. “Your bathroom’s right through that door, and I’ll have someone bring your things in a jiffy. Would you like some lemonade or a sandwich?”

“Oh, um—” His stomach grumbled a bit. “I guess I am a little hungry. Thanks.”

“Just come on out to the kitchen when you’re ready then.” She left him with a friendly nod, and then he was alone.

He sat down on the bed and stretched his legs out before him. His white sneakers on the rug looked as out of place as he felt right now. He wasn’t there long before there was a soft knock at the door. 

“Come in,” he called out.

The door pushed open with a grunt as a fairly young guy, wearing clothes that he’d earlier imagined people here wore, entered the room with his suitcase and laden down with his various other bags. 

He jumped up from the bed to grab a bag. “Oh, let me get that.” 

The guy handed one over but otherwise seemed to have everything in hand as he set them down carefully to the floor. He touched the brim of his cowboy hat in greeting. 

“Thanks for bringing all this in for me. I could have got it myself, but Meg, she said—”

The guy laughed, and Louis noticed how good looking he was now that he had a look beneath the hat. Really nice brown eyes that crinkled up a bit in the corners. “Not much you can do besides listen to Meg.”

“Yeah, that’s the impression I got,” Louis grinned. 

The guy held out a hand. “Hi. I’m Liam. One of Hank’s ranch hands. I hear you and Niall will be around for a bit, so I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around quite a lot.”

Louis shook his hand. “I’m Louis. Nice to meet you. Um, any chance you know where Hank is at the moment? Thought maybe I should say hi or something.”

“He’s out on a ride right now. I’ll let him know you’re looking for him though when he gets back.”

“Ah, okay. Thanks.”

With another tip of his hat, Liam left, and Louis flopped back on the bed. It took a few minutes to remember the sandwich and lemonade he’d been promised, but when he did, he got back up to find the kitchen and Meg. 

Meg was nowhere to be seen, but a large sandwich piled high with salami and Swiss cheese stood on the kitchen counter with a glass of lemonade beside it. 

“Hello?” he called out, but no one answered. Okay then. It felt a bit weird to be seemingly left alone in a stranger’s home, but he supposed Meg was around here somewhere. 

He took the sandwich and lemonade and wandered over to the large windows that looked out onto the back of the property. A patio and firepit sat just outside the windows, which he now realized was a series of doors that could be slid open, and beyond that the stables and wide open space beyond the series of fences near what he assumed were the horse stables. If he squinted he thought he could see fencing in the distance, too. Obviously, a very large property Hank had here.

With nothing to do after eating the sandwich, he headed back to his room and unpacked some of the things he’d brought with him before losing interest half way through. To be honest, he wasn’t used to being left to his own devices. 

He checked his phone and looked through a few emails and scrolled through social media, but there was something about being here that made him feel like he was wasting the day away on his phone. 

So he did what he always did when he was bored, got out his guitar. Feeling hopeful, he set out a pad of paper and a pencil and started charging his laptop just in case some part of a song came to him, but the entire session devolved into him just strumming tunes he’d heard in cowboy movies that he didn’t even know the name of. 

A knock at the door startled him into the wrong chord, and he hoarsely called out, “Come in.”

The door swung open to reveal an older man, his face weathered with time and the sun beneath a wide brimmed tan cowboy hat. He stood with his legs spread in his blue jeans, dusty from riding and it was clear who this was. 

“Hello, you must be Louis. Hate to bother ya when you’re playing so nice, but before I head back out to the stables, thought I’d say hello and welcome you to Colorado.”

“Hi,” Louis jumped up from the bed with his hand outstretched, meeting Hank’s eyes. Clear and blue and friendly just like Niall’s. “Nice to meet you. You must be Hank.” 

“That I am. To be honest with ya, I forgot you all were coming this week. No problem though. I always got room for people to stay,” Hank said, waving away any protest Louis could have begun. “Whether they’re buying horses or making music, I don’t mind visitors. Now when’s my nephew gonna show his face then?”

“He’s still in New York, but he’ll be in tomorrow night, I think.”

“New York,” Hank repeated and just shook his head. “Can’t imagine why he’d want to be there.”

Louis hid a smile. “Well, maybe because he’s playing a sold out show at Madison Square Garden.”

“Eh, I suppose that does it for some people.” Hank smirked and tipped his hat. “Now, I’ll leave you be so you can get on there with your music. Feel free to poke around the house. If you need anything, you can just holler for Meg or shout out the door for me.”

“Thanks.” He had a moment of panic at being left alone again. “Um—would you mind if I tagged along with you?”

Hank’s eyebrows lifted. “You interested in horses, Louis? Because I got a couple of fine ones to sell a young fella with money.”

Louis huffed out a laugh. “I don’t know a thing about horses. But I wouldn’t mind checking them out.”

“Well, maybe my horses will change your mind after a bit.”

They walked out through a side door that led in a more direct route towards the stables, a quite impressive looking building in a similar style to the house. All the while, Hank told him about his horses, the pride evident in his voice.

“These aren’t just any horses now. These are Gypsy Vanner horses, which the Horan family is especially known for, seeing as how we brought them here from Ireland in the first place. They have other names, Gypsy Cob or Irish Cob or just plain Gypsy horses. We breed show horses mainly, but seeing as how we’re in Colorado, these horses are good trail riders, too.”

Hank opened the door to the stables escorting him inside as Louis saw Liam and a few others attending to horses. A woman with a clipboard seemed to be examining one of them. But the people weren’t what really caught his eye.

“Fucking hell they’re huge and floofy!” He stared at the massive horses before him with fluffy feathered hair at their legs and long luscious manes.

Hank stopped in his tracks. “I beg your pardon—”

“Your horses look like they’re from a Disney movie! These are fairy tale horses!”

Hank’s lips turned in the corners as if he didn’t know quite what to think at his reaction. Oh. Maybe that wasn’t exactly the reaction most people had? But damn, he didn’t know how anyone could have a different reaction.

“Um—these are really nice horses, Hank. Like really—nice. Nicest horses I’ve ever seen.”

“Mhm.” Hank scratched his chin and looked at Louis for a moment. “You’re gonna need some work.”

Louis wasn’t sure what that meant, but he followed Hank around the stables and into the yard to watch the horses in the pens while they trained and fed and pranced around. The wind kicked up blowing both the horses hair and his own as they walked around, and he wondered if that’s why everyone was wearing hats. He was going to have to get one. 

  
  


It wasn’t that Louis was bored. It was more that by the next day he felt—restless, which in hindsight never boded well for him. 

He clearly didn’t have the faintest idea on how to care for horses and he didn’t want to be in Hank’s way, so after about an hour of wandering around with Hank, he let him be. Liam looked busy, and when he went inside to try and chat with Meg, he couldn’t find her. Being used to having someone’s attention was somewhat of an issue here. 

Back in his bedroom, he found that even his guitar wasn’t helping. He had a few little snippets of things floating around in his head, but he’d really rather wait for Niall to work on them. Just when he was ready to give up and watch Netflix or something, Niall texted.

_On my way to the airport see you soon bro!_

Good I’m starting to get bored

_Shit, don’t get into trouble_

I’m not gonna get into trouble. When have I ever? Don’t answer that

_Take me too long to answer that._

Fuck off

_Go check my room and see if the stuff I shipped showed up. If it did, go rummage around in there for shit to do._

Ok. please get here before I do something dumb like lose a horse or something

_How the fuck are you gonna lose a horse? Nevermind don’t answer that_

Louis put down the phone and wandered into the bedroom next to his own. The room had multiple shipping boxes piled high. Some looked to be just random things Niall had ordered, not just his own personal shit that he’d sent ahead of him. 

One of the smaller boxes had been shipped by a company called Vertigo Drones, which piqued his interest, and he immediately began tearing open the box. Inside was, of course, a drone. Not terribly big, but definitely not just a cheap toy either. 

He pulled it all out and began charging it. Reading all the instructions for controlling it was boring as fuck, but he had to wait for it to charge at least a little bit. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he unplugged it and nearly ran out of the house with it.

“Whatcha got there?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin at Hank’s gruff voice right behind him as he slid the back door shut. 

“Jesus, you scared me.” He clutched his chest as though that was going to settle his heart beat. “It’s just Niall’s drone.”

Hank looked unimpressed. “Well, just don’t scare the horses with it.”

“Right. Of course. I won’t. I’ll go way out away from them.” He looked around towards the land opposite the stables and pointed. “I’ll go out there.”

“Good. Fine. Just keep in sight of the house and don’t get lost.”

Louis gave him a smile that tried to be reassuring, but from the look on Hank’s face, he didn’t look reassured. He headed off in the direction he’d told Hank until he felt like he was well away from any of the horses in the main fenced off area. In fact, he walked far enough away that he could finally make out the white speck beyond the fence that marked the edges of Hank’s property. 

There was actually a series of small buildings, but he couldn’t really make out much of it from this distance. Also, he didn’t much care. He turned his attention to the drone and had it up and flying in an instant. 

“Yes!” 

He flew it in large arcs across the clear skies, zipping over tree tops and just along the fence in the distance before sending it soaring back up overhead. He hadn’t realized how far he’d chased it until he realized he was quite near the fence and could see what must be the neighbor’s house much more clearly. 

It wasn’t nearly as grand as Hank’s place, but it had quite a few out buildings, some resembling houses themselves. He started to veer back away from that area when he realized the drone wasn’t flying nearly as high as it had been. 

“Uh oh.”

He’d flown it now well away from the neighbor’s house, but it was definitely starting to lose steam while still over the neighbor’s property. It seemed to then get another jolt of power for a bit and arched back up higher again. 

Just as he steered it up again and back towards him, it began to dip again, and then lost power completely.

“Fuck!”

He watched as Niall’s drone took a nose dive right into a tall tree on the other side of the fence. For a minute he just stood there staring at the tree in disbelief at what he’d done. Well, he definitely couldn’t just leave it there. He could climb the fence, but damn it, he’d told Niall he wouldn’t cause any trouble. A neighbor might not take it too kindly to have a stranger climbing his fence and ending up in his yard. Probably best that he go and explain what’s happened.

With a sigh, he began the long walk around the fence until he reached a gate to the neighbor’s drive. It looked like quite a secure gate for someone who lived on a seemingly much less valuable property than Hank’s. He pressed the buzzer and waited. Then, he pressed again. 

There was a crackle of a noise as the intercom system buzzed to life and then a deep voice. “Yes?”

“Uh, hi. I’m staying at your neighbor Hank’s place, and I’m afraid I’ve crashed a drone into your tree. Very sorry about that. I was just wanting to come retrieve it if that’s okay—”

“No.”

“Uh—what?”

“I said, no.”

“But—the drone isn’t mine!”

“So you’re a thief?”

“No, I just—borrowed it. 

“Either way, I said, no.”

Louis just stared at the intercom in disbelief. “What the fuck?”

“Get off my property.”

“I’m not even on your property! I’m at your gate!”

Louis wasn’t sure if he ever got a response because he stalked away. 

“Fucking dickhead,” he said under his breath. “Rude as fuck.”

It’s not like people telling him no had ever stopped him before, so it wasn’t like he was going to let it stop him now. He strode quickly down the fence line until he reached the tree. 

“Fuck that asshole,” he said as he began climbing the split rails of the fence. He climbed back down the other side and stalked over to the tree. Looking up through the large leaves and branches, he spotted the drone stuck towards the top. With a groan, he began circling the tree looking for the best way up. 

Swinging himself up onto a branch that was well over his head proved a bit of a challenge, but Louis was in pretty good shape, if he did say so himself. Once he was up, it just took a bit of maneuvering through the branches to get at the drone. The tree branches held his weight just fine and looked quite sturdy so no worries there. It was just a bit harder to climb back down with the drone in his hands. 

By the time he got close to the final branch and needed to swing down to the ground, he knew it wasn’t going to work. Tossing it to the ground might break it though, so he stuffed it into his shirt, where it sat fairly snugly. He tucked the bottom hem of his shirt beneath it to keep it a little better in place exposing his stomach and back a bit.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Louis froze. It was a pretty deep voice, presumably the one from the intercom. 

“My drone was stuck in your tree as I already explained at the gate.” He bent his head at an angle to look at the man and nearly fell out of the tree. Even upside down, the guy was pretty hot, sat atop a large black horse and glaring at Louis from beneath his cowboy hat. Too bad he was a jerk. A jerk with some really nice thick thighs in that saddle, but a jerk nonetheless.

“And I already explained that I wanted you off my property.”

“I wasn’t even on your property!”

“You are now.”

Well, that was a fair point. “Look, I’ve already got the drone. So I’ll just be on my way.”

He heard the sounds of a horse trot nearby and wondered how he’d missed hearing the neighbor’s horse as another man on horseback came into view. He felt a bit at a disadvantage perched in a tree trying to have this argument.

“Wow,” the second man said. “I mean, hello.”

Jesus, they sure grew good looking cowboys in Colorado. This one wore a smile, which was nice. 

“Hi. I’m Louis.” He couldn’t really wave or shake his hand. “I’m staying with Hank next door. Just accidentally flew my drone into this tree and had to climb up and get it.”

“Oh, I’m Shawn. Nice to meet you. You need help getting down?”

“No, no. I’m good.” He grabbed hold of the branch and wrapped his legs around it. Carefully, he swung himself back around it so that his back faced the ground so as to be able to slowly release his legs from the branch and drop to the ground without dislodging the drone from beneath his shirt.

Glancing back at them from upside down, he noticed Shawn seemed to be watching him quite intently. Oh. He did have his shirt hiked up quite a bit. Well, this just became more embarrassing. He couldn’t really tug it down without falling though. 

Once he carefully dropped to the ground, he quickly uncovered the drone and pulled his t-shirt back down. Shawn looked a bit disappointed at that. When he looked back at the neighbor, he still wore the same disgruntled look on his face. Unfortunately, he was even better looking from up close, noticeably handsome with strong features even if he was scowling. What the hell was up with Colorado?

“Well, I’ll just be on my way—”

The neighbor steered his horse directly between him and the fence. “Hand over the drone.”

“What? No.” He clutched the drone tightly to himself. What the fuck? “And it’s not mine anyway.”

“Who does it belong to then? A tabloid? And since you’re trespassing, any footage you have I’ll be seizing in court.”

“Footage? What footage?” Why the hell would a tabloid want footage of this rancher? “I don’t even think this drone has a camera on it.”

Louis looked down at the drone. He hadn’t read all the directions, but it definitely appeared to just be something you flew for fun. 

“Harry, I don’t think—” Shawn began.

Something cleared on this Harry person’s face. “Shawn, why don’t you go see if Lacey needs to be cleaned after that ruckus with the manure pile and stop ogling Hank’s visitor.”

Shawn just grinned and tipped his hat at Louis. “Nice to meet ya, Louis.”

Louis watched as Shawn trotted away on his horse and then turned back to Harry. But Harry said nothing, just gave him a hard look and patted his horse who turned and headed in the same direction as Shawn.

Louis tucked the drone back into his shirt and climbed back over the tall, split rail fence and dropped down onto Hank’s property. Well, that was certainly interesting. 

  
  


Meg had just placed dinner on the large rustic wood table in the dining area, when he heard a car pull up outside. He jumped out of his seat and skidded across the polished wood floors before anyone else probably even realized what had happened.

Niall burst through the doors without ringing the bell, of course, and nearly knocked Louis over in a giant bear hug. Despite having traveled all afternoon, Niall looked none the worse for wear, looking every inch the pop star with his styled hair and fashionable clothes. An enormous smile crossed his face as he released Louis and headed for his uncle. 

“Hey, Uncle Hank! Good to see you!” 

Hank wrapped Niall up in a bear hug that lifted Niall off his feet, and Louis found the striking smile on his weathered face suddenly reminded him of Niall’s. Louis heard a cough behind him and when he turned to look, Niall’s driver gave him a wink.

“Hi, just bringing in Niall’s bags. Nice to see you again, Louis.”

Louis nodded hello, and Greg walked back out to drag in more of Niall’s bags. Niall appeared at his side, wrapping a protective arm around his shoulders.

“Stop hitting on my friends, Greg!” Niall yelled out the door as Greg shrugged and shut the trunk before carrying in a guitar and another bag. “Saw you looking at his ass.”

“He _did_ wink at me,” Louis acknowledged.

“Mhm. I knew it.” 

Greg set the bags and the guitar inside the doorway and gave Louis a smirk.

“Don’t be getting any ideas, Gregory. Lou’s here to work, not play.”

Niall steered them into the dining area just as Meg set another place for Niall at the table. 

“Lovely having you here, Niall. Been so long since you’ve had a visit,” said Meg, her eyes a bit misty.

The deep affection and love Hank and Meg had for Niall was quite palpable as they sat together at the table, eating and reminiscing. After Meg poured them a few glasses of Irish whiskey, Louis found himself recounting his little adventure in the neighbor’s tree as they sat next to the huge fireplace.

Niall cackled so loudly that Meg shushed him. “Meg, there’s no one but that dickhead Harry guy for miles!”

Louis’ laughter dissolved into hiccups as he leaned his head back into the firm leather of the couches. 

Hank cracked a smile at least, but then cleared his throat. “Now, now. Harry’s a good boy. Takes good care of his animals.”

Niall let out another trill of laughter. “Uncle Hank only cares about how you treat your horses, not how you treat people.”

Hank shrugged. “I’m just sayin’ that Harry’s had to shoo any number of tabloid photographers off his land. Though it hasn’t been much of a problem in some time. ‘Spose he thought it was happening again.”

Louis’ head swam with a bit too much alcohol. He had no idea what Hank was talking about. “Photographers?”

Niall leaned forward. “Wait, who are we talking about? Who is Harry?”

Hank sipped his whiskey and huffed out a dry laugh. “Well, I never saw him in nothing, but then, I don’t think I was his target audience. I don’t go see too many movies anyway.”

“Harry’s an actor?” This at least penetrated the fog of alcohol in his head.

“Was one, yeah. Name’s Harry Styles—”

“HARRY STYLES?” He and Niall said the name in unison and then looked at each other in surprise.

Hank just raised an eyebrow. “Guess you’ve heard of him then.”

“Uh, yeah—”

Niall let out a howl of laughter. “You met Harry Styles and didn’t even know it!”

“He was wearing a cowboy hat!”

“You climbed Harry Styles’ tree, and he told you to get off his property!” Niall rocked onto his back on the couch, his legs splayed dramatically in the air. “Can’t believe you met Harry Styles of all people.”

Louis frowned into his now empty glass of whiskey. “So what? He was still a dickhead about everything. He almost destroyed your drone!”

Niall laid out fully on the couch now, an arm thrown over his face. “Jesus, Uncle Hank, can’t believe you’ve been living next door to Harry Styles, and no one even knew.”

Hank scratched at his chin a bit. “Would have probably told ya if I’d known you’d think it was such a big deal.”

“A big deal? Yeah, it’s not everyday you find out that the biggest child star ever fucked off to live on a horse ranch next to your uncle.”

“It’s actually a horse rescue,” Hank said. “Well, horses and Lacey, of course.”

“Lacey?” 

“The goat,” Hank answered. “Not actually sure why he’s got just the one goat. Never asked. She’s a handful though.”

Hank chuckled as though privy to an inside joke about it. Louis didn’t care about goats though and wondered how they’d gotten off track. 

“Can’t believe all my uncle cares about is horses and goats.” Niall uncovered his eyes and turned his head towards him. “I guess it makes sense now though that Harry was so paranoid about the drone.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess.” Memories of screaming tabloid headlines flickered through his mind. “Probably would make anyone paranoid, but he could have apologized when he realized I was just, you know—”

“A dumb ass stuck in his tree?”

“Shut up, Neil. I wasn’t stuck! I was coming down just fine!” He thought back to that moment for a minute. “Huh, wonder if the other cowboy guy was his boyfriend.”

It hadn’t seemed like it by the way they acted and frankly by how Shawn had looked at him, but he was definitely good looking enough to catch the eye of a rich actor.

“Shawn?” Hank scoffed. “Nah, Shawn’s a local boy. Just kind of fell into the job and Harry’s decent at rescuing people and not just horses, I’d reckon.”

“And goats,” Niall added.

Hank nodded his agreement.

With a groan, Niall sat up and stretched. “Fuck, I’m tired. I’m gonna head to bed and nobody wake me up in the morning. It’s been fun but I don’t want to talk to anybody until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.”

Pleasantly drowsy from the effects of the alcohol, Louis headed to bed as well. It took him a while to fall asleep as he laid staring at the ceiling and thinking of a handsome cowboy who wasn't who he seemed. 


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Louis woke well before he expected to see Niall emerge from his bedroom. Meg cooked him up food just right for the bit of a hangover he was nursing before he wandered out into the yard to see what Hank or Liam were doing. 

He found Liam in the stables grooming one of the floofiest horses, pure white with flowing white hair. 

“That horse is just ridiculous.”

Liam turned around, looking surprised. “What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t look like a real horse,” Louis claimed, stepping closer. “What horse has a tail this long? He’s gonna trip on it!”

“Well, Cork is a mare, but—”

“Cork? This horse can’t be named Cork. Her name should be like Princess Snowflake or something.”

Liam’s eyebrows furrowed together as though he wasn’t sure whether Louis was serious or not. He apparently decided on serious. “Well, she can’t be named that. All of Hank’s horses have Irish names. They’re Irish horses.”

Louis snorted. “Fine. I’ll think of something else.”

“Um—okay?” Liam’s mouth opened again as if he was going to say something else, but then he just shut it again before he mumbled under his breath. “She is kinda floofy.”

Louis headed back out into the yard and scanned it for any sign of Hank. He must have gone for a ride because he didn’t seem to be in sight. When he found himself walking closer to the high fence between Hank’s property and Harry’s, he couldn’t help but look through the rails at the few horses out feeding. 

By the time he spied Harry on his huge horse, sleek and black and even more intimidating than it looked the first time, coming around the side of a barn, it was too late to make a run for it, especially not in the red track suit he was wearing today.

“Spying again?” Harry asked from beneath his stupid cowboy hat.

God, why did Harry’s voice have to be so damn deep? It sent an unintentional shiver down his spine. Too bad Harry was such an ass. “I am safely on Hank’s side of the fence today, thank you. So no, I am not spying.”

“You’re looking through the fence at my property.”

Was that a smirk on Harry’s face? Insufferable. “I was looking at your horses. They aren’t floofy.”

“Floofy?”

“Yes. Hank’s horses are very floofy. Floofy manes, floofy tails, floofy little bracelets around their ankles—”

“Bracelets?”

“Yeah, like hair bracelets around their ankles.”

“Hooves.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You knew what I meant.”

A loud cry of some sort startled him, and when he turned towards the sound, there was a goat running towards the fence, bleating an odd wavering cry. It ran straight for them until it reached the fence and reared up it’s front legs onto the fence directly in front of Louis, bleating incessantly.

“She’s begging for food,” Harry explained between bleats. “Don’t give her any. She’s got plenty of food.”

“Clearly not if she’s begging from strangers.”

“She’s just greedy.” Harry steered his horse closer to the goat. “Go on, Lacey. Leave him alone. Go on now. You’ve got enough food.”

“Sorry, Lacey,” Louis called to the goat. “I don’t have any food on me right now. Next time, I’ll bring you some.”

“You’ll regret it if you do,” Harry called back over his shoulder as he turned and began riding back away from the fence.

He tried to think of a retort, but then his attention immediately shifted. He saw a dog amble out from the house and make a run towards Harry. It was large and black with curly fur. When it reached Harry, it barked two rather friendly barks; its tail wagged and its tongue lolled out of its mouth. There was nothing Louis wanted more at this moment than to be friends with that dog. Louis may not know much about horses or goats, but dogs were a different story. 

The dog spotted him through the fence and immediately ran to the rails to greet him. “Hey, doggo! What a good boy you are!” 

Harry whistled and the dog immediately turned away from Louis and ran back towards Harry, following him as Harry and his horse trotted away. Well, he wasn’t sorry to see Harry go, but he would have liked to have gotten to know the dog better. 

When he began walking back to the house, he could see Hank riding in the distance, probably headed back to the house for lunch, so he walked in to see if Niall was out of bed yet. He found him sitting at the kitchen table being plied with coffee and pancakes. 

“Breakfast at noon?”

“Never too late for breakfast, Tommo.”

Louis just shrugged and sat down as Hank slid the door open to join them. Meg brought over bowls of soup and sandwiches for them, and just as he took a sip from his spoon, Hank began talking.

“So Sunday night Harry always comes over for dinner.”

Louis spit his soup in a spray of broccoli cheddar. 

“Fucking hell, Lou!” Niall looked down at his spattered shirt. There was some in his hair, too.

“Sorry, sorry,” Louis said as he wiped his own chin with a napkin. “Soup was—uh, hot.”

Hank gave him an odd look before he continued. “Sometimes he brings Shawn with him, sometimes not. I think it depends on if Shawn’s got a date or is in town with friends or that. So just letting you know we’ve got company for dinner.”

Niall frowned as he wiped up his shirt. “I’ll be on my best behavior, Uncle Hank.”

“See that you are.”

Louis blanched a bit at this, but obviously he didn’t want to cause Hank any issues with his neighbor even if he was a bit of a douche. Maybe dinner will be a chance to clear the air, seeing as how he and Niall might be in Colorado for a while.

Niall must have been thinking along the same lines because he took a bite of pancake and then brought up their visit. “Now Uncle Hank, I know you said we could stay as long as we needed, but I don’t want to overstay our welcome either.”

Hank looked Niall straight in the eye. “You both stay as long as you like. Don’t mind if you’re here a month or a year. Won’t bother me none. And I’m sure Meg would appreciate the company. She gets bored just looking after me.”

Meg pulled a smile and shook her head at Hank. “You know you wish you could keep Niall here forever. We know you’ve got a restless soul though, Niall. Always wanting to keep moving.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that,” Niall said with a grin. “But I’m aiming for Tommo and I to stay put here for a while. I think I actually need a rest. A bit of relaxation. And we’ve got to come up with some new sounds for the next record. If you’re up for that, Lou.”

“Of course,” Louis agreed. “I can stay as long as you need. I mean, I gotta pay my rent somehow, don’t I?”

Niall laughed, but Hank frowned at his remark. “I keep telling Niall to invest in real estate out there. Instead of throwing your money away on renting big fancy houses. Guess I need to have a talk with you, too.”

Louis raised his hands in defense. “I know! I know! I’ve been thinking about it actually. Should probably do that. Have more of a home base, I guess.”

Niall raised an eyebrow “In L.A.?”

Louis shrugged. “As good a place as any.”

“Never thought I’d see the day you became a permanent L.A. boy, Lou.”

“Can’t really think of a more logical place to live. I basically live there anytime I’m not writing with someone on tour.”

“I guess.” Niall sounded unconvinced, but Louis really doesn’t have anywhere else in mind. Maybe a beach house in Malibu or something.

Maybe he should consider it more before buying a house, but he’d been renting for a long time. It just seemed like it was time. “If I buy a place, I could put in my own studio. Have artists come to my place to record.”

Niall perked up at that. “That would be nice.”

  
  


Knowing that Niall intended them to stay here for quite a while, Louis figured he’d better unpack. He stuffed clothing into the dresser and closet and set up his guitar and keyboard on a stand and made sure his portable recording equipment was ready.

When he checked on Niall, he found him lying on his bed watching golf. The bedroom which had been packed full of boxes now looked like Niall had been living in the room for years. Everything looked absolutely in its place and neatly arranged. Louis just shook his head, but he supposed Niall was used to making his home wherever he went.

Niall glanced at him and yawned, so he dove on top of him and yelled, “Wake up, Neil!”

Niall let out a screech and tried to wrestle him off just as the door swung open.

“Our guests are here for dinner, if you’d like to come out and join them for a drink. Or I suppose you could stay in here and scream at the top of your voices first. Should I perhaps tell them the commotion was music related?”

“More like ‘Tommo’s an idiot’ related,” Niall mumbled, rubbing where they’d accidentally hit heads. 

Meg didn’t respond, just left the door open and walked back towards the living room. 

“I think Meg was judging us.”

Niall snorted. “You think?”

When they made their way into the living room with only a minimal amount of shoving, Louis realized how underdressed they seemed to be for Sunday dinner.

In the interest of not lying to himself, Harry in blue jeans and a cowboy hat had been pretty hot. But apparently he wasn’t ready to see him look like the movie star he’d once been. His hair looked styled nicely, curling to the nape of his neck just above his broad shoulders. His dark slacks fit his body perfectly as though they’d been altered to him specifically and his white button down shirt looked equally fitted. He still wore cowboy boots, although these were far from dusty or worn looking; these were polished and new.

When his eyes finally made their way back up to Harry’s face, he found a huge smirk there. He’d been caught. Louis’ eyes were gonna roll out of his head if he had to spend too much time with this fake cowboy. 

He stood a bit taller, although it probably didn’t have much effect since he was in his sock feet and Harry loomed over him in his stupid boots. 

“Hello, Harold. Shawn.”

Hank slid open the back door and ambled inside with a wide smile. “Glad you could both make it tonight. Meg’s got a nice pot roast cooking. Have you introduced yourselves to my nephew yet?”

Louis dragged his eyes away from Harry and realized that Niall hadn’t said a word. Oh. There was a look on Niall’s face that he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before. Was he—blushing? Niall reached for Shawn’s large, outstretched hand and murmured hello.

“Hi, I’m a big fan,” Shawn said, his eyes wide and a huge smile on his face. Interesting.

Louis felt a pang of guilt at the knot forming on Niall’s temple from their roughhousing a minute ago, but he couldn’t have known that Niall was going to meet Shawn and go all googly eyed over him. He took a closer look at Shawn. He did look pretty good in those tight black jeans. Too bad he and Niall were wearing sweatpants and looked like they’d just come from a pick up soccer game or something. 

When Shawn finally released Niall’s hand, Harry turned towards Niall. “Hi, I’m Harry. Not  _ Harold _ as your friend said. It’s nice to finally meet you. Hank talks about you often.”

God, this guy really couldn’t take a joke. His eyes really were going to end up stuck in a permanent eye roll. It was going to be a long night.

As they sat down at the dining table, Hank eyed Harry for a moment. “You dressed up for some reason, Harry?”

A faint blush spread over Harry’s cheeks. Interesting. “Just as much as I usually do for Sunday dinners, Hank.”

“Mhm,” Hank shot him a grin. “Well, how goes the horse rescuing?”

Harry visibly relaxed in his seat. “Good. I’ve got space for a few more horses, and I’m thinking of having additional stables built. Let me know if you hear of any that need to be taken in.”

“You know I always have an ear out for you.” Hank nodded. 

Meg brought out dinner and smiled at all their compliments before they all began eating and drinking, the conversation kept light. Harry ate food in the most obscenely bizarre manner, his tongue hanging out of his head with each bite. It was ridiculous and annoying and made him think not so pure thoughts, so he basically deserved the kick to the shin beneath the table. He probably barely felt it. Too bad he wasn’t wearing shoes. He kept an innocent look on his face in case Harry had felt it though. 

One thing happening at the table definitely piqued his interest though. Niall’s sly glances at Shawn, and Shawn’s less than sly glances at Niall. Very interesting. 

“So what made you decide to come visit Hank?” Shawn asked, clearly directing his attention to Niall.

“Oh, just came off my world tour and thought maybe I needed someplace I could relax a bit.”

“Sold out world tour,” Louis added. Might as well play wingman here.

Niall grinned at him. “Well, thought I’d invite Lou here to come with me and see if we can’t write the next album while we’re here. Louis wrote about half of the last album with me, and I decided I definitely wanted to take my sound in his direction.”

Louis patted him on the shoulder. “And I’m very happy you did.”

“I’m sure your bank account will be very happy, too.”

“You know it.” Louis grinned.

Shawn was happily listening to them, but Louis noticed Harry’s face had turned a bit sour. What the hell was this guy’s problem anyway?

The conversation turned away from music and to Hank’s upcoming need to go and buy feed. But the next time Harry took a sip of his beer, Louis was ready and waiting. A swift kick to the shin, and Harry was spilling a bit onto the table. Louis kept his innocent look plastered on his face, but this time Harry gave him a hard stare. Louis just smiled.

Niall’s idea of relaxation seemed to be watching golf on Hank’s big screen tv with a beer in his hand. Louis certainly wasn’t going to begrudge him some time to wind down, but he was definitely getting antsy to be busy with something. 

He walked out into the midday sun, letting it warm him, and stared out at the mountain peaks in the distance wondering what he should do. Deciding to be at Niall’s beck and call for his next album had sounded like a great idea at the time, but he’s used to writing all the time or being in the studio with the next big thing in music.

It’s not that Niall would even mind if Louis wrote a few things without him or wrote some things for other artists, but there’s an unfamiliar block in his way that he can’t quite figure out, an itch that he can’t scratch. His work with Niall had always been different though, so he wasn’t too concerned about being able to write with Niall when the time came. 

He really just wanted to work on whatever tune he heard Niall humming when he muted the commercials. So he just wandered around the stables and ended up over at the fence again, humming the tune to himself, too. An uptempo little thing. He wondered if Niall had in mind what the song was about, but he knew he wouldn’t be getting anywhere with it until Niall had his fill of golf. 

About to cut back across the property towards the stables, he noticed some motion out of the corner of his eye. A double take revealed a goat behind a tree. The goat shuffled back as though it were hiding or spying on him or something. 

He was pretty sure Hank didn’t own a goat.

“Lacey, is that you?”

The closer he walked, the further back Lacey went in a circle around the tree as if she thought she was concealed behind it.

“How did you even get over here?”

There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with the fence and it wasn’t like she could jump it or something. He looked over at Harry’s property. There didn’t seem to be anyone around in the immediate area. Lacey was wearing a rainbow print collar of some sort, so he made a lunge for it.

She immediately let out a bleat of alarm and dodged his outstretched hands. It only took a few feints before she got confused and he grabbed hold of her collar in the scuffle. 

“Okay, Lacey, I’m taking you back to Harry. Don’t want him accusing me of stealing you or something.”

She seemed quite reluctant to go, but he tugged enough times that she seemed to understand he wasn’t going to relent and started moving with him, letting out a few bleats of displeasure.

“Yeah, I know. He’s probably annoying to live with. But unfortunately that’s your problem, not mine,” he said as he led Lacey along the fence towards the main gate in front of Harry’s property. “Hank probably doesn’t have goat food. What do goats eat anyway?”

Lacey dug her hoofs in and forced them to stop and then took a nibble on the hem of his shirt. 

“Hey, now. This is vintage.” 

He continued to drag her up to the front gate and two things happened at once. He tapped the intercom button at the same time he noticed the large sign proclaiming Harry’s ranch to be named  _ Hairy Tale Horse Haven _ . 

“What the fuck.”

“Excuse me?”

“Uh, hi. It’s Louis.”

Shawn’s friendly voice responded over the intercom. “Hi, Louis!”

“Hi, I have Lacey here at the gate. I found her wandering around in Hank’s yard.”

“Oh, no. That’s not good. I’ll be right there.”

True to his word, he saw Shawn come jogging up the path towards the gate. Shirtless. And sweaty. And wearing only a pair of basketball shorts. 

To say that Shawn looked good shirtless was a gross understatement, but he managed not to swallow his tongue and speak. “Hey, I’ve got your goat.” 

“I see that,” Shawn said with a grin. “Lucky, I was working out in the house or no one would have heard the intercom.”

“Mhm. Lucky. So uh—I don’t know how she got over there. I didn’t see anything wrong with the fence, but maybe further down or something.”

Shawn’s arms crossed over his chest, his biceps bulging. He wished Shawn would just take the damn goat back or at least close the gate behind him. He knew she’d make a run for it if he let go of her collar. 

“Yeah, probably. I’ll take a ride along the fence line and see where she got over.” Shawn’s eyebrows furrowed together and then cleared. “Thanks for bringing her back, Louis. Um—I was wondering if I could ask you something.”

“Sure.” He tried nudging Lacey closer to Shawn in the hopes he’d finally take the collar from him. No such luck.

“Are you and Niall staying at Hank’s long or—”

Lacey lunged a bit and he struggled with the collar. “What—um, yes. A while. We’re writing the whole album here. Or at least that’s what Niall says we’re doing.” 

“And how long does it usually take to write an album?”

“Well, if I’m under a time crunch I can help someone write an album in a month, but if we take our time, which is what Niall wants to do, I’d assume we’ll be here for the rest of the summer at least.”

“Mm. Interesting.”

Lacey lunged again. “Er—yeah, I guess.”

“So how do your significant others feel about you being gone for months? Or are they going to visit?”

“Um—a little help—” Lacey finally broke loose from Louis’ grip and dodged Shawn’s outstretched hand, but she dashed back through the gate onto Harry’s property. Onto  _ Harry Tale Horse Haven  _ property. He glanced at the sign again. “Does Harry like puns or something?”

“Yes, he does!” Shawn seemed quite delighted by the fact his boss enjoyed something as lame as puns. He’ll have to wait until he’s back at Hank’s to make fun of him then. “How did you know?”

Louis waved in the general direction of the white wooden sign attached to the fence next to the gate. 

“Oh! Yes, the name of the ranch. Harry names lots of things with puns. He’s very funny actually.”

“Sure. Okay.” Shawn clearly had a very low bar set for humor. Louis dusted his hands off on his pants and turned to walk back out of the gate when he remembered something. “Oh, and Shawn?”

“Yeah?”

“Niall’s single, if that’s what you were asking.”

By the look on Shawn’s face and the flush of color on his cheeks, Louis inferred his motives correctly.

As he walked back up to the house, he patted some of the dirt and dust off his clothes that had been kicked up by wrangling Lacey. He wiped the sweat off his brow just as he noticed Niall lounging on the back patio with a glass of lemonade in his hand and sunglasses shading his eyes. 

“Saw you had some trouble with a goat over there.”

Louis’ jaw dropped. “You saw that? Why didn’t you help me?”

“Looked like you were handling the situation.”

“You  _ just _ said you saw I was having trouble.”

Niall shrugged and took a sip of lemonade, ice cubes clinking.

“Well, I delivered the goat back over to Harry’s and got an eyeful of Shawn shirtless and sweaty, so maybe I’m still the winner here.”

Niall choked a bit and pressed a fist to his chest, trying to cough up aspirated lemonade. “Swallowed wrong,” he choked.

“Mhm, swallowed your tongue? Anyway, he asked about you.” Louis gave him a grin and opened the back door to head inside and change his clothes. Maybe even take a shower.

“Wait! What’d he say?” Niall swiveled around so quickly, he fell off the lounger and onto the patio. “Louis!”

He kept going. Niall could just wait a bit for a full report. 

Meg glanced up as he slid the door shut.

“Hey, Meg. I need to use the washing machine.” He gestured down to his clothes. 

“Just hand them over. I can throw them in with Hank’s things. Don’t you worry about laundry while you’re here.” Louis started peeling off his shirt. “Now, don’t be taking off all your clothes in front of me, young man. I know how you LA folks are about nudity, but this isn’t California.”

Louis cackled out a laugh. “Just my shirt, Meg. Promise. And thank you, it’s really nice of you to offer.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll bring you a basket and set it outside your door.”

Once in his bedroom, he stripped off his clothing, leaving them in a heap beside the door and then trudged into the shower to wash off any lingering goat smells. When he came back out of the room, he saw the laundry basket Meg had mentioned. He could get used to this life. 

Niall was nowhere to be seen, although the Golf Channel still blared on the television screen, so he walked out onto the back patio and shaded his eyes with a hand to look out across the property for any sign of him. Out in the distance, he saw movement near the fence that drew his eyes. 

He squinted. Maybe it was Niall out there talking to Hank. Or maybe it was something even better. He dashed back inside to grab his shoes. 

The closer he got, the wider his smile became. That was definitely not Hank on a horse on the other side of that fence. “So Shawn, did you figure out how your goat became an escape artist?”

Niall startled back from the fence, nearly tripping over an exposed root. 

“Yeah, I rode the fence line and found some rotted wood she busted through, so I put up something temporary to keep her from sneaking onto Hank’s ranch. Thanks again for bringing her back.”

“No problem.” Not exactly the truth, but maybe it was a worthwhile problem. Shawn and Niall had been very talkative at dinner last night. Thank god, really, since it kept Harry from opening his mouth. But maybe something more than friendship was blooming here. “Well, anyway, I’m just gonna go talk to Liam about getting some riding lessons. See you around.”

He only said that to have an excuse to leave them talking together, but now that he’s said it, it sounded like a good idea. If he’s going to be living on a horse ranch, he should probably learn some things about horses. 

It seemed that whenever anyone looked for Liam, he’d appear, and this time was no different. As soon as he entered the stables, there he was leading a horse from a stall. “Hi, Liam.”

“Oh, hey Louis!” Liam smiled widely and nodded. 

“I was wondering if I could ride a horse sometime. I haven’t seen Hank around today to ask him about it.”

“Yeah, he drove into town today. And of course, you can ride one of the horses! Have you ever ridden before?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, well that’s fine. We definitely have horses that anyone could ride.”

“Cool. When can we start?”

“I’d be happy to take you out riding tomorrow, if you want. Lorna and Llynn have checkups with the vet now, so—”

“That’s fine. Thanks, Liam.” At least tomorrow he’d have something to do, especially if Niall watched golf all day again.

When he got back to the house again, he was met with a sight that had him breathing a sigh of relief. Niall was sat on the back patio again, this time with a guitar. He almost felt the stress of idleness fall off his shoulders. 

“So are we writing songs or what? Go get your guitar.”

Louis hid a smile at Niall’s sudden inspiration. He suspected Niall’s inspiration had the same name as their neighbor. That didn’t matter though, he was just glad for the chance to play around with some songs.

“Got any ideas yet?” he asked as he sat down with his guitar in hand. 

“Mm. Yeah. got a bit of a tune that’s been stuck in my head for a few days.”

“I know. I’ve heard you humming it.” 

Niall let out a caw of a laugh when Louis started playing it. “Didn’t even know I was humming it to be honest. But yeah, that’s it. I was thinking the song’s about when you meet someone interesting and you just like everything about them. And you just want to do something to get their attention.”

“Hmm. Okay.” Niall joined in on the guitar as Louis thought for a moment and then sang, “ _ Nice to meet ya, what’s your name _ ?”

Niall grinned and added, “ _ Let me treat ya, to a drink _ .”

They played around with the tune a bit to add more than a chorus until they had the rough beginnings of a song.

“I find it a bit funny that you of all people came up with a line about tattoos,” Louis laughed. 

Niall grinned, waving around his arms, unlined with a tattoo of any sort. “What? This is what people do though, right? Meet someone they really like and don’t want to lose, so they might do something crazy like tattoo their number on themselves.”

“Sure, sure. I won’t hold my breath that you’d ever do something like that.”

“Well, I’m not an idiot. But I’d probably use a Sharpie if it was someone really great.”

  
  


“Thanks for the lessons, Liam. I’m starting to feel way more comfortable now.”

“No problem. You’re doing quite well for a beginner,” Liam answered, his face split wide with his customary smile. “Hank says it’s clear you should have been his nephew instead of Niall. More interested in the horses.”

“Nice. Let’s definitely tell Niall that.”

Liam laughed. “You know Hank will own his statement, so go ahead. Well, I need to go round up Lorna and Shamrock Shake for their vet visit—”

“Wait— _ Shamrock Shake _ is the name of one of the horses? How did I miss that?” Louis patted Una, the floofy white horse he was riding. “Why can’t this one be called Princess Snowflake then?”

“Because Hank’s wised up. Niall named Shamrock Shake years ago. That was the last time Hank ever let someone name a horse. Niall followed the rules though—technically an Irish name.”

Louis couldn’t stop the laugh that spilled out. “True.”

Liam slung himself off his horse and approached Una to help Louis down.

“Wait, do you mind if I ride her a bit more? Just in the pasture while you check on the vet?”

Liam stared at him curiously a moment or two before his face split into another smile. “You know, this place really gets in your blood if you’re open to it.”

With a shrug of his shoulders, Louis squeezed Una on one side to make her go left. What Liam said struck him a bit though. Maybe Colorado  _ was _ getting under his skin. He hadn’t ever really pictured himself on a horse before he came here, and now after a few weeks he felt somewhat at peace in a pasture atop a horse.

The peace didn’t last long.

Una was a gentle soul, so he felt fairly safe when Liam hopped on Llyn and headed back to the barns. He’s sure he would have been completely fine, safely riding Una around the pasture a few times before Liam came back to check on them, but out of the corner of his eye he spotted Lacey approaching the pasture.

How had she escaped from Harry’s again? He watched in horror as she squeezed her small goat body between the bottom rail of the fence and the ground. “Lacey, go home!”

But of course, the goat headed straight for them, bleating loudly. He did his best to keep Una away from the goat, but in a bit of a panic, he nudged her the wrong way just as Lacey darted in front of the horse. “Lacey, no! Don’t get directly in front of a hor—”

And in the next moment, he found himself on the ground. “Fuck—ow—shit!”

His ankle throbbed, and he had definitely scraped himself up a bit in the fall. Pain shot through him when he attempted to move his leg. Fuck. Una stood by the fence unconcerned as Lacey stood a few feet away inspecting the trouble she’d caused him. 

There was no use for it; he was going to have to just wait for Liam to come back and help him into the house. 

“Interesting place to choose to take a rest.”

Irritation replaced pain for a few seconds. “Fuck off.”

Harry hopped off his horse and approached the pasture fence. “I see you’ve got my goat again.”

Louis choked a bit, but then recovered quickly. “More like your goat makes a run for it every chance she gets.”

Harry narrowed his eyes beneath his cowboy hat, looking at him oddly. “What is it about you, I wonder?”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s never tried to escape before you showed up.”

“So now it’s somehow my fault?” He wished Harry would just go away. He’d rather sit in the dirt and wait for Liam to return than ask Harry for help. The same thought must dawn on Harry that he was actually hurt though.

“Are you injured?”

“No, I like to just sit in horse pastures next to giant piles of horse shit while some crazed goat runs around next to me.” Lacey was indeed trotting in the pasture running in circles around Una and then Louis in turn.

Harry snorted and then started climbing the fence, dropping down onto the other side. Why was that so hot? “You could have used the gate.”

Harry smirked as he knelt down next to Louis’ outstretched leg. “I could have, but I’m attending to an injured rider. Faster this way.”

The touch of Harry’s long fingers around his calf helping to tug his boot off had him yelping in pain. “Ow, fuck that hurts.”

With a frown, Harry inspected his swollen ankle, touching the area quite gently. “Probably just a sprain. But I don’t think you’re going to be able to walk on that.”

“Genius observation. I hadn’t figured that out when I couldn’t stand up.”

“Guess I’ll have to carry you then.”

“What? No—wait—”

Very carefully, Harry scooped him up in his arms only jostling his ankle a little and began carrying him towards the gate. “So you do know where the gate is.”

Harry didn’t answer but managed to let themselves through the gate and started walking in the direction of his own house. Clicking his tongue at his horse who instantly began following them. “Come on, Forrest.”

“Your horse’s name is Forest, huh?” That actually seemed like a pretty decent name, considering what an absurd name he’d used for his ranch, Louis is a little surprised. Harry turned away and began walking in the opposite direction of the house. “Where are you going? Hank’s—”

“Not home. And neither is Meg or Niall. And I assume since you were on your own that Liam is busy.”

“But—”

“So looks like I’ll be looking after you. Lucky I have the afternoon free.”

“Lucky,” Louis echoed. There was something terribly discomfiting to being pressed against Harry’s chest like this. “Couldn’t you have carried me differently?”

“Like how?”

“I don’t know, like a fireman or something?” 

“So you like a fireman fantasy, do you?”

“Oh my god—no, I just meant it would be less humiliating than carrying me like a damsel in distress.”

“Aren’t you though?” Harry said, his voice low and way too suggestive, Jesus. Before Louis could scoff, Harry’s tone changed back to normal. “Would have hurt your ankle more. With a fireman’s carry. This is easier on your ankle.”

“Oh.” Maybe he had a point, but it definitely would have been easier on his pride. He tried to keep his eyes off Harry’s face which was much too close for his own comfort and instead out at the land Harry so easily carried him over. 

What the hell kind of shape was Harry in that he could carry him like this anyway? Who knew cowboys were so strong? He could feel the press of Harry’s arms secure beneath his legs and around his back as he clutched his own arms around Harry’s neck even as he tried his best not to sink into the hard planes of Harry’s chest. 

These were the wrong kind of thoughts to be having. He tried to banish them, but in their place, things like the way Harry smelled came to mind. He should’ve smelled like horses or animals or something gross, but instead he just smelled like cologne and maybe a little sweat. 

Maybe he should just breathe through his mouth for a while. It took some concentration to do, which was a plus, but only worked until it sounded like he was panting. Why was it taking an eternity to reach Harry’s house?

With all his weight off his ankle, there were only a few jarring moments when Harry shifted his weight that gave him any pain, but when Harry eventually did reach his house and set Louis on his couch, Louis could see just how very swollen it was. 

“I’ll go get something to clean up your scrapes and some ice for your ankle.”

“Oh. Right. Thanks.” Louis took this opportunity to look a bit more closely at Harry’s house. He knew this property had to cost a hell of a lot of money to maintain, but there wasn’t really a sign in the house that Harry had once been one of the most famous actors alive. The house wasn’t full of acting awards or expensive finishes. It was actually a lot simpler than Hank’s house, more clean lines and modern touches. 

Everything looked—functional. There were some really beautiful photographs hanging framed on the wall though—mountains and horses and people—all in black and white, and he felt the pull of them, wishing he could walk over to study them more closely.

Harry returned quickly. He sat on the coffee table next to the couch and placed an ice pack across his ankle, gently placing a small pillow beneath it. His touch was fleeting, but it still sent a strange spark through him. Harry had taken off his hat, leaving the curls of his hair to tousle carelessly. Fuck, he wnted to touch those curls, twirl one around his finger and let it spring back in place.

Maybe he was delirious. Maybe he hit his head when he fell. Before he could think any more on it, Harry’s touch was back, this time slowly and deliberately checking his hands and wrists for injuries. “Where does it hurt?”

The question surprised him. The feel of Harry’s fingertips against his skin had cast some kind of mysterious spell over him, fogging his brain. “Hmm?”

Harry’s eyebrow quirked up. “Does anything hurt besides your ankle?”

“Oh, uh—” He took mental stock of any other pain. “I think I might have scraped my elbows up a bit.” 

“Ah, okay. Let me help you get your shirt off then.”

An embarrassing squeak left his throat. “My shirt?” 

Another eyebrow quirked up along with a sideways grin. “So I can clean your scrapes.”

“Right. Of course.” He sucked in a breath and held it as Harry leaned in towards him grasping the hem of his shirt and drawing it up and over his stomach and chest. Harry’s face grew so close to his own that he only remembered to raise his arms after Harry tugged a bit.

It only occurred to him as his shirt slid up and over his head that he didn’t really need help taking off his shirt. It was his ankle that was injured, not his arm so much. It also took a little too long for Harry to help tug it all the way off of him. 

It was on the tip of his tongue to call Harry out on this, but he choked it back. Somehow, pointing it out seemed like a bad idea. Harry continued to stare at his chest as if mesmerized by something. “I like your tattoos.” 

He clutched his shirt to his chest as though it offered protection of some kind. “Thanks.” 

Harry reached for him again, taking one of his arms in his hands and looking over the skin of his elbow. “Mm, this one’s a bit scraped but not too bad. Let me see the other one.”

Louis dutifully twisted a bit and held out his arm. 

“This side, too,” Harry murmured. 

When Harry stood up and gave him more than a few inches of personal space, he sucked in a couple of deep breaths to focus again. It was not enough time to actually calm down before Harry was back with a few supplies. 

And then, his skin was under Harry’s touch and his brain seemed to short circuit again as Harry carefully cleaned his scrapes and applied ointment and bandages. As Harry walked away presumably to put back the first aid kit, Louis flopped back with a groan.

Harry peeked his head back in from the kitchen. “Did you say something?”

“No.” Louis took a pillow and held it over his own face just in case he needed to scream his frustration. What the fuck was all that about? He really, really needed to get the fuck out of here, but he couldn’t get very far on this ankle. He threw the pillow back onto the couch and stared at his propped up ankle. It throbbed, and he moaned in self-pity. 

He kept staring at it as Harry reentered the room and stood next to him. “Here.”

Looking up, he saw Harry’s outstretched hand with a few pills in it and a glass of water in the other. “It’s ibuprofen.” 

“Thanks.” He swallowed down the pills and took a sip of the water as Harry stood next to him.

Louis glanced up at him, wondering why he hadn’t sat down or walked away. He was met with a peculiar look on Harry’s face that was gone a moment later. 

“I’ll be right back. I need to let Nadia know I won’t be helping with therapeutic riding today.”

Harry didn’t wait for his response, just turned and walked out the door. “Okay then,” Louis said to the empty room.

Ten minutes later Harry returned and settled into the chair next to the couch. “Do you need anything?”

Louis shook his head. “I didn’t know you taught therapeutic horseback riding.”

“I don’t. Nadia is the therapist. I just help out sometimes.”

“And you let them use your horses.”

Harry shrugged. “It’s a horse rescue. Not like the horses are here for any particular purpose. In any case, they don’t actually need me there. I just—like to do it, I guess.”

“Well, don’t stop on my account.”

Harry snorted. “You can’t be left alone right now, Louis. We’ve already established no one’s at Hank’s except his employees. And just so you know, I already called Liam and let him know you were here so he wouldn’t come back to the pasture and just find your horse without its rider.”

“And a goat.”

Harry sighed. “Yes, and a damn goat. Liam said he’d bring her back. I swear you’ve cursed that goat somehow. She was never that much of a problem before you came here, and now she spends all her time trying to sneak over to Hank’s.”

“I can’t help it if she senses my natural charisma.”

The loud bark of a laugh that came from Harry’s mouth startled them both. Harry clapped a hand to his mouth as though he could take it back and composed himself. “You shouldn’t have been riding alone, you know.”

“Liam wasn’t going to be gone long. I’ve been taking lessons, and I know how to ride a gentle horse around a fenced in pasture. Liam knows that. We just didn’t know Lacey was going to come busting in.”

“Well, next time, just don’t take that chance. You never know when something will go wrong. If Liam’s busy when you want to ride, I could ride with you.”

There’s a beat of awkward silence. Why would Harry offer to ride with him? They weren’t exactly friends. 

Harry cleared his throat and jumped up from his chair. “Um—maybe I should get you a fresh ice pack.”

The ice pack was still plenty cold, but Harry didn’t exactly give him a chance to say anything. Harry hesitated when he walked back in the room with another ice pack and realized he’d have to replace it.

Louis watched intently as Harry sat at his side on the coffee table again as Harry avoided his gaze, instead carefully untucking the ice pack from around Louis’ ankle and replacing it with the new one. 

The more he learned about Harry, the more he got an uncomfortable feeling that he’d misjudged him a little. Helping kids with therapeutic horseback riding didn’t exactly fit in with the arrogant movie star image he’d created in his mind. Neither did offering to ride with him whenever Liam couldn’t. 

There was certainly no forgetting that Harry looked like a movie star though. Harry glanced back at him with a smile that lit up his face, dimples creasing his cheeks. Why was he smiling at him like that? 

“You have a smudge of dirt on your nose.”

Oh great. So that’s why he was smiling. He rubbed a finger across it, but Harry’s smile just grew wider.

“You just made it worse. Here.” Harry slid a little on the table to be closer to his face and grabbed a bandana out of his pocket. What a cowboy move. Before he could think on that any further, Harry was softly wiping the tip of Louis’ nose with it. 

Louis swallowed down the butterflies that began erupting in his stomach. Harry was so close. Too close. And then he felt the light touch of Harry’s finger at the tip of his nose.

“Boop.”

What the fuck just happened? “Did you just—boop my nose?”

Harry shrugged, a ridiculous smile still on his face. “Maybe.”

Before he could think better of it, he reached up and poked one of Harry’s dimples.

“Heyyyy—”

“I poked your dimple.”

Harry nodded as if that made complete sense. “Oh. I guess that’s fair. Since I booped your nose.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither of them moving away. Well, he didn’t really have anywhere to move, but Harry certainly could have moved back. He didn’t. 

Just as the space between them began to feel charged, the door banged open. Harry slid back so quickly he nearly fell off the table. 

Louis craned his neck to see Niall and Shawn stumble through the door. The big black curly dog he’d seen before right at their heels.

“Lou, whatcha doin’ here?” Niall nearly tripped over the dog as he staggered into the room with Shawn’s arm wrapped around him as Shawn laughed hysterically.

“I fell off a horse. Are you drunk? What are you doing here?”

Niall nodded as though it even made sense that him falling off a horse would lead to him sitting in Harry’s house. “Distillery tour! Best first date ever!”

He and Harry just stared as Shawn dragged Niall into the kitchen and came back with water bottles. The dog trotted over to Louis, and he petted him absentmindedly. 

“Thanks for the water, Harry. Couldn’t find mine.”

“Did you check your refrigerator? Harry asked. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

Shawn put a finger to his chin. “No, I don’t think I did. I’ll go check again!”

And then they were both back through the door with another bang, headed towards Shawn’s house presumably. 

Interesting. 

When he looked back at Harry, he was surprised to see the dark frown on his face. The teasing man who’d just booped his nose seemed to have disappeared. 

“They’ll be okay. Surely, Shawn can drag Niall back to his house to sleep it off. If you can carry me across a field, Shawn can get Niall just up the path.” The dog licked his hand. 

Harry whipped his head back to Louis. “That’s not what I’m concerned about.”

“If you’re worried about consent, you don’t have to be. Niall’s not like that even when he’s drunk. And to be honest, he’s about five minutes from passing out.”

Harry stood up, running a hand through his hair. “Did you know they were going on a date?”

“Uh—no. I mean, I knew Shawn had a thing for Niall after he asked me about him, but—”

“So you  _ did _ know about this.”

“What the hell’s wrong with you? Who cares if they went on a date?”

“Because as soon as Niall’s had his fill of whatever he’s come here for, he’ll be on his way just like the rest of them.”

“The rest of them? Who the hell is the rest of them?”

“Musicians,” Harry said it as though it was a dirty word.

“Oh, so actors are so much better?”

“No, they’re just as shitty.”

“Well, Niall is one of the best people I know, and I know he’s not going to treat your friend like shit, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Sure. Whatever. I’m going to do paperwork in my office. If you need anything, just yell. Come, Lissie.” The dog jumped up to follow Harry. 

Harry stomped off down a hallway, shutting the door loudly and leaving him alone and confused and at least a little bit pissed off. “You could have at least left the dog with me!”

A door opened and closed again and in the next moment the dog, Lissie apparently, climbed up on the couch and snuggled in next to him.

He couldn’t help but smile a little. 


	3. Chapter 3

Louis felt a little like a stalker. 

It had been a week since that very strange afternoon he spent on Harry’s couch. And now he found himself making up reasons to be outside during the therapeutic horseback riding session happening next door. 

It was odd to see Harry carefully helping kids up into a saddle and taking the reins to help them parade in slow circles. He got close enough at one point to see the soft smile on Harry’s face. It made his heart melt in his chest. And he wasn’t sure he liked the feeling.

He hid inside after that. It was way too confusing to see Harry be so gentle. He felt slightly uncomfortable that he already knew how gentle Harry could be. Harry had seemed so enthralled with what he was doing that he hadn’t even seemed to notice Louis looking over at them every few minutes. 

Although how couldn’t he have noticed him with Lacey pacing the fence line and bleating at him every few seconds and Lissie barking at him until he walked over to give her a pat on the head, he didn’t know. But Harry’s head never turned in his direction, so he was either oblivious or Louis was being ignored.

God, he hated being ignored.

Staring out the windows, he watched the rest of the session only stopping when Niall banged in the front door and caught him. “Whatcha looking at, Tommo?”

“What? Nothing. The mountains. The horses. Nothing.”

“Yeah, sounds like nothing. Lemme see.”

Niall was looking out the window before Louis could speak another word.

“Well, I do see mountains and horses. Also see a good looking cowboy out there. Maybe one who can carry your ass and sprained ankle across a horse ranch.”

Louis pretended to look closely out the window. “Oh, is Shawn out there?”

Niall snorted. “Shawn better not be carrying you around.”

It was Louis’ turn to raise an eyebrow. “And why not?”

Niall shrugged, but a silly grin spread across his face. “Because.”

“Interesting.” Louis studied the look on Niall’s face for a moment and realized what he saw there was happiness. “You really like him.”

“What’s not to like?”

“Fair point. He is pretty hot.”

“He’s more than just hot,” Niall sniffed. 

“Is he now?” Louis tried to suppress his smile. It was cute seeing Niall like this, excited about someone. It had been a while. “You have been spending a lot of time with him.”

“Yeah, he’s just—different than most people I meet.”

“I could see that.” It made sense really. Shawn wasn’t a celebrity even if he worked for one. Well, a former one. One who wanted nothing to do with the spotlight anymore. Shawn was just a regular guy who grew up in Colorado and worked on a horse ranch. He was about as far removed from the people they knew in LA as he could get. 

“It feels like I can just be myself with him. And he doesn’t have any kind of agenda with me. Did you know he actually asked to sign an NDA? I didn’t bring it up, but he had signed one to work with Harry. Said he wanted me to feel comfortable that he wouldn’t sell me out.”

“Wow, okay. That’s pretty cool of him.”

“You know how everywhere you go and everyone you meet, you just feel—judged?”

“That’s LA for you,” Louis said with a laugh. 

“Yeah, he’s not like that.” Niall shook his head. “And he said he felt the same about me. That he felt like he could be open with me in a way that’s different than with all these people he’s known his whole life. They all have preconceived notions about him, too. Funny how we have that in common.”

“That’s really nice, Ni.”

“Yeah.” Niall’s grin turned a bit goofy. “Could maybe write a song about it.”

Louis’ eyebrows shot up. “Yeah? I’ll get my guitar!”

They both jumped up and ran down the hallway towards their bedrooms, shoving the other out of their way. 

By the next day they had much of the song worked out. 

The chorus was definitely done, so just the verses needed some fleshing out. They went through a few lines that just didn’t work and went back to talking about that first date Niall had gone on at the distillery. 

“Why were you barefoot?”

“I don’t know. I was drunk. You saw me.” Niall shrugged. “I think the wine was the weirder part. Why didn’t we drink the liquor we bought from the distillery?”

Louis pulled a face. “True. But I think the line works. Sets the scene pretty well for a first line.”

“Yeah, like I felt—comfortable with him, even then.” Niall smiled and sang out the verse. “Barefoot and a bottle of wine, You can stay with me tonight, You don’t have to change when I’m around you, So go ahead and say what’s on your mind.”

Louis returned the smile. He could feel how right it sounded. “Pull up a drum beat on your laptop. I’m not Ed Sheeran over here making my own.”

Niall fiddled around with one, but then stopped. “Does it need a faster tempo do you think?”

“Speed it up and let’s see.” They played what they had a few times changing up the tempo. “You’re right. Sounds less serious than it did.”

They recorded it a few times, just to satisfy each of their perfectionist streaks even though it would all be rerecorded when they got back into a real studio. Hank walked in from the stables, and it surprised them that it was already late enough for Hank to come in for dinner.

Niall jumped up from the couch. “Shit, I gotta take a shower!” 

“Are you going somewhere?”

“Got a date with Shawn.”

Louis held up his hands in mock surrender. “No judgement.”

Niall cackled as he headed for the shower. 

Louis wandered into the dining area and sat down next to Hank as Meg pulled something out of the oven. They ate and chatted, and Louis wondered how he’d so quickly become accustomed to living in this house. It felt so—comfortable. Free of judgement. He smiled thinking of the song they’d finished writing today. 

“You look like you’re in a good mood,” Hank noted as they stood up from the table. “Your ankle must be healed up.”

“Yeah, feels fine.” 

“Would you like to help bring the horses in?”

“Like tuck them in? Read them a bedtime story?”

“Something like that.” 

Louis followed Hank out of the house. The sun sat low in the sky, a riot of pinks and oranges as they walked in companionable silence towards the horses. They brought the horses in and fed them again. Hank instructed him on the proper way to give a rub down and check for any scrapes. 

It felt like a nice end to the day. 

Louis said goodnight to the horses as they walked out of the stables and smiled when he saw Hank was watching him. 

“You’ll be able to run this place by the time you’re done writing songs with my nephew.”

“I doubt that, but yeah, I’m enjoying my time here. Thank you for letting me get involved. I’d be bored out of my mind otherwise.”

Hank nodded. “I can tell you’re someone who likes to keep busy.”

“I am. But it’s more than that, too. I’ve never really had the chance to be around horses like this. Or have this kind of time in the country and I—well, I guess I like it here.”

“Well, I’d gladly keep you on as a ranch hand if the music thing doesn’t pan out.”

Louis let out a trill of laughter. “I’ll keep that in mind if the hits dry up.”

“You know, you remind me of Harry when he first came here.”

“Ugh. Really?”

It was Hank’s turn to huff out a laugh. “Yes, you two just seemed to just get off to a bad start. I think otherwise you’d have been fast friends.”

Louis honestly couldn’t imagine why. Harry was so—arrogant and sure of himself and judgemental. Sure he must have some good qualities if Hank thought so much of him and from what he’d seen with the therapy group he had on his ranch, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to be friends anytime soon. “I don’t see how.”

“I think you’ve both been quick to judge is all I’m sayin’.”

They walked a few more paces towards the house, and Louis scrunched his lips up into a frown. He didn’t feel like the judgement had come from him. It was Harry who was so judgemental. Wasn’t it? 

“Harry started it,” he mumbled. 

“Sounded like he surely did,” Hank agreed. “And you continued it.”

Louis kicked at the dirt in the path as they neared the house, and they both stopped.

Hank turned to face him. “Both of you knew nothing about anything when you came here. But you’re both fast learners, and your hearts are in the right place when it comes to horses and animals. You’re both very genuine people in an industry that doesn’t reward that. Now, Harry’s left all that behind him. And you’ve managed to find the one musician who doesn’t give a shit about being a celebrity. So yeah, I’d say y’all got something in common.”

Louis remained silent, looking down at his boots.

Hank sighed. “Just give it some thought, okay? Good night now.”

“Night, Hank.”

  
  


Louis could hear the door to his bedroom burst open, but he didn’t bother to open his eyes. Only one person would come in this way. 

“Come on, Lou. You have to come.”

“No, I really do not.” 

He opened his eyes just in time to see Niall mid-flight, diving on top of him on the bed, so he was at least able to brace for impact. 

“Why wouldn’t you want to go to a music festival? I don’t know anyone who goes to more music festivals than you.”

Louis rolled his eyes. It was obvious why he didn’t want to go. “Like I want to go and be a third wheel on your date with Shawn.”

“You won’t be though! Harry’ll be there!”

“Exactly.”

Niall snorted. “I thought you didn’t hate him anymore. Both of you have become much more pleasant at dinner on Sunday nights.”

“Just because I don’t completely despise him, it doesn’t mean I want to spend an entire night entertaining him while you make out with Shawn.” 

“You know I’m not going to give up on you going, right?”

Louis sighed. He did in fact know that Niall was nothing if not persistent. Niall was right that he and Harry were—not friendly exactly, but definitely tolerating of the other. But he was still bothered by what he suspected Harry continued to think about Niall. Probably this music festival was just another excuse for Harry to watch Niall and Shawn together. 

Niall hadn’t said anything about he and Shawn having any problems with what has become a full fledged relationship at this point. But he couldn’t help but wonder if Harry would try to pull something if he suspected Shawn was going to get hurt. He had the uncomfortable feeling that Harry had no idea how much time Niall and Shawn had been spending together. 

“It’s for a good cause. You know how you love to support good causes.”

He pushed Niall off of him with a groan. “Fine. You win. You always win. I’ll go.” 

It was late afternoon as Louis climbed into the backseat of Harry’s Land Rover. He was at least thankful that Harry was driving so that he wouldn’t have to sit next to him. Niall’s bright smile was almost enough to make up for the coming hours he’d have to spend listening to Harry. If Harry even bothered to speak to him.

He tried to think positively though. Niall was right that he loved music festivals. Although he wasn’t sure he’d find any undiscovered gems in a tiny town in Colorado, but any live music was okay by him. 

When they parked and walked into the small downtown area, it surprised him to see so many people and small tented spaces for vendors. 

“Did the whole county show up?” he mumbled.

“They usually do.” A shiver shot up his spine at the sound of Harry’s deep voice at his ear. 

His first instinct was to scurry closer to Niall, but it was clear he and Harry had been left behind just as he feared would happen. Niall and Shawn, their heads tilted close together, laughed and smiled just ahead of them, oblivious to everything else. 

Great.

They had to walk past all the vendors to get to the stage, so they naturally just stopped to peruse things. Shawn and Harry were stopped again and again to talk about the horses or Hank or who their friends were. So far no one had spotted the pop star in their midst. Of course, they also talked to Harry as though he wasn’t once someone who used to walk red carpets and attend the Oscars. 

He couldn’t help but notice that everyone seemed to really like Harry. 

As Louis looked over a table filled with brochures about the Red Ribbon Project and stopped to make a donation, he overheard Harry asking after someone’s great aunt. When he stopped at a table for mountain biking gear, he saw Harry give his card to someone with a story about an injured horse in Vail. The booth with representatives from a ski resort also happened to have someone whose nephew did therapeutic horseback riding and gushed over how much he loved coming out to Hairy Tale Horse Haven and how he wanted to work for Harry someday. 

Harry just smiled with dimples creasing his face. Why were they so disarming? 

Every person they came in contact with seemed to have a connection to Harry and also seemed to think he was amazing. It was annoying. And slightly eye opening. 

The owners working the tented area for the Iron Mountain Hot Springs resort were no different. 

“Oh, Harry, you’ll have to bring your boyfriend up for the day! Can’t believe you never said a thing about him in the group chat!”

“Oh, he’s n—”

“I’m Kim and this is my husband, Hugh. It’s so nice to meet you! You know, Harry moved here the same time as us. We met in the airport of all places! I don’t know if he’s told you this, but we were all stuck waiting in LAX for a delayed flight to Vail and discovered that there were six of us headed for Eagle County. And after eight hours together, you tend to make friends.”

Kim had already walked around the table separating them to throw her arms around Louis in a tight hug. “We are so happy Harry’s found someone. We were always so worried about him. He’s so guarded when it comes to love. You must be so so special to have gotten through to our Harry.”

“Um—”

Kim released him so suddenly, he tipped over into Harry who reached out to hold him steady. Kim just beamed at them. “Oh, don’t you two look so handsome together! You can tell us all about how you met when you come up and visit. You know you’re welcome any time free of charge!” 

A few more people walked up and began asking Hugh some questions about amenities when Kim shooed them away. “Now you two come up and see us soon, okay? I’m sure you’ll stop in at The Dusty Boot and introduce your young man to Melanie and James. I’m going to want to gossip with them later in the chat!”

It appeared they’d been excused. “Uh—I forgot to tell her my name.”

Harry snorted. “She didn’t give you much of a chance to. I don’t think it really matters anyway since you’re not my—well, because we aren’t dating yet—I mean, not  _ yet _ —er, at all—”

Louis rolled his eyes. “I get it, Harry. You’d never be caught dead dating some phony LA musician like me.”

“What? Wait—that’s not—I didn’t say that.”

Louis just shrugged and walked towards the next booth, looking out over the crowd for any sign of Shawn or Niall. 

“Louis—” Harry’s fingers closed over Louis’ wrist, and Louis turned to look at him. Harry didn’t release his wrist. “I didn’t say that. That’s not what I think of you.”

He stared down at where Harry still held him. “What do you think of me?” As soon as the words left his lips, he wished he could take them back. 

Harry seemed to suddenly realize he had a hold of his wrist and let go, letting Louis’ arm fall. Harry’s voice held a rasp that wasn’t there before. “I don’t think you’re a phony LA musician.”

Louis huffed out a laugh that held no humor. “What a compliment.” He turned to walk off again, but this time Harry moved more deliberately until he was standing in front of him.

“I think you’re a good friend. I think you do things for your friends that most people wouldn’t. I think you charm most everyone around you. I think you have a genuine interest in people and animals that’s rare to find in someone. I think that you’re unbelievably talented. And I think when you leave, my goat is going to be depressed.”

Louis broke as soon as he mentioned Lacey and let out a cackle. Harry’s face relaxed into a soft smile of relief. 

“Come on, Styles. Let’s find our friends.”

He led Harry through the small crowd until he found a bar with an outdoor tent area adjacent to it, only realizing it was The Dusty Boot when he saw the stone sign inlaid into the brick of the building behind the tent. Of course, this was where they spotted Niall double fisting drinks as he headed in a direction away from the bar.

Harry waved his hand in a direction ahead of them. “I see Shawn over near the edge of the tent by the stage.”

“Yeah, I see Niall headed towards him with drinks.”

“There’s a band setting up. Why don’t you head over there and I’ll grab us a drink. Beer okay?”

“You don’t have to—”

“I know I don’t. I want to.” Harry flashed a grin. “I get drinks free here.”

“Oh. Right. Melody and John?”

“Melanie and James,” Harry corrected. “Seriously, I’ll be there in a minute.”

He wondered if he’d just been sent away, so Harry wouldn’t be put in the awkward position of explaining who he was to his friends again. It didn’t matter anyway. 

Making his way over towards Niall and Shawn took some maneuvering. The crowd seemed to be gathering more towards the stage now that there was a band preparing to play, and more than once ended up accidentally bumping into someone.

“Sorry,” he said as he was pushed into a man’s chest. 

“Hey, Louis, right?”

He looked up into the face of the driver who had taken him from the airport to Hank’s that first day. “Uh—yeah. Sorry, man. Someone pushed me.”

The man smiled and gave him a once over. “No problem. It’s a little crowded here. You want to go get a drink with me?” 

“Oh—um, well—”

“Greg,” the man answered, apparently thinking Louis was searching for his name. Greg reached out to clasp Louis’ elbow as though he was going to start leading him up to the bar.

“Right. Greg. Someone was just—”

And then, in the next second Harry had broken the hold, stepping right in between them and thrusting a cup into Louis’ hand. 

“Uh—”

Harry’s jaw twitched and his lips pinched together. What the hell was wrong with him now? Louis peeked over Harry’s shoulder to Greg who still hadn’t moved, just stood there looking at them a bit oddly. 

“Another time, Greg. Harry was just getting me a drink.” He held up his cup like an idiot above Harry’s shoulder so Greg could see it. 

Harry finally turned around as though he hadn’t seen Greg at all, as if he hadn’t been the one to knock Greg’s hand away. “Greg. Good to see you.”

The look on Greg’s face had turned to one of bemusement. “Hey, Harry. How goes the horse business?”

“Good. I’ll be checking in this week on a potential new horse who needs a place to go.”

“Nice. Well, I’m going to go get myself a drink. Enjoy the music. Louis, maybe next time.” Greg winked and turned to walk towards the makeshift bar.

Now it was Harry who had his hand at Louis’ elbow, and was directing him towards Niall and Shawn. Louis shrugged him off. “I know where we’re going.”

Harry dropped his hand, but not without giving him a mutinous look before gaining some self control. Louis rolled his eyes when he saw Niall and Shawn were kissing out by the time they reached them.

Louis had teased him about making out with Shawn tonight and leaving him to his own defenses with Harry, but the truth was it didn’t look like  _ making out _ . Shawn had a hand at Niall’s jaw and pressed soft kisses to Niall’s forehead and cheek and jaw before pressing a gentle one to his lips. 

It was a terribly intimate moment in the midst of a sea of people, and it stopped Louis in his tracks. He’d never seen Niall look like that with someone else. This was definitely more than he’d thought it was. As soon as he had that thought, he turned to Harry who was watching them intently with a frown on his face. 

He wondered what Harry saw when he looked at them, but he was afraid it wasn’t anything good. 

The band began to play, drawing Niall and Shawn apart and noticing that their friends had found them. They both smiled, goofy and lovesick. And they all pressed a bit closer to the stage. 

Outside the bar tent, there was a bit more room to move around and as the band played some bluesy rock songs, people danced. Louis swayed with the beat and drank his beer and watched the musicians play, admiring some of their rearrangements of the music. 

It was a bit unnerving to have Harry just behind him, his body so close that if Louis moved too much his ass would brush against him. So he was careful as he moved and drank and shouted things to Niall. 

When the band finished their set, he felt a hand at his waist and sucked in a breath at the sound of Harry’s voice in his ear.

“You want another beer?”

“Yeah—sure.”

Harry took the empty cup from Louis’ hand and disappeared into the crowd.

He tried to concentrate on whatever Niall was saying to him, but he still felt the press of Harry’s fingertips at his side and it distracted him more than he thought it could. 

“What’s up with you?”

Louis snapped his attention back to Niall. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“I just said my favorite band was Metallica.”

Louis snorted. “I guess I didn’t catch that last bit then.” 

“What’s going on with you?”

“What do you mean? Nothing’s going on. He’s buying me a drink. Actually, he’s not. Melanie and James give him drinks for free. He gets everything for free.”

“Lou, I didn’t even mention Harry. And who are Melanie and James?”

“People in Harry’s group chat that he met in the airport five years ago.”

Niall blinks a few times. “How would you know this?”

“It came up.”

“Okay. What do you mean by him getting everything for free?”

“Well, the hot springs owners want us to come by for free.”

“Us?”

“Um—yeah, I guess she meant me and Harry, but she thought we were a couple.”

Now Niall was looking at him like he’d completely lost it. “How did she get this impression and why didn’t you correct her?”

Louis just looked at him helplessly and shrugged. It was hard to explain Kim to someone who hadn’t met her. 

It must have taken Harry quite a while to get through the line because the next band was on stage and just beginning their set when he returned. He handed Louis a cup with a slightly pained expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mm. Nothing. Just—”

“Just what?”

“I guess Kim already texted Mel and Jim.”

“Who are Mel and Jim?”

“Melanie and James. The owners of the bar.”

“Oh, right. Okay. Oh. I see. So now they think we’re dating, too?”

“Yes, but only because I need to just talk to Kim first.” Harry sighed. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to go tell them the truth? Because I will.”

“Harry, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal. Tell them whenever you want.”

Harry gave him a small smile and a nod, turning towards the band as they started up an Earth, Wind & Fire song. 

Louis let out a laugh as he and Niall turned to each other in delight that they’d get a funk band playing at a music festival in the mountains of Colorado. Shawn brought back more drinks and a few shots as they danced to Rufus and Parliament and even a few straight up modern pop songs. Even a funk version of a boyband song Louis had helped write, which had Niall hooting loudly that his friend wrote this song and waving his drink around recklessly. 

The alcohol that sank into Louis’ bloodstream evaporated whatever reservations he had about Harry as a dance partner as Harry twirled him around to the sounds of Bruno Mars. Harry’s dimples were out in full force as Louis laughed and Shawn shouted and Niall grinned. It was—fun.

And then the song wound down to the last lines and suddenly Harry stopped dancing and his hands cupped Louis’ face. Louis’ vision that had just been swirling stopped and focused on the green of Harry’s eyes as they stared into his own, the laughter on his lips dying an early death. 

A Bruno Mars sound alike sang out. “ _ When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change, ‘Cause you’re amazing, Just the way you are. _ ”

“Harry?” His voice wasn’t even loud enough for Harry to hear him.

“ _ And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while _ .”

Harry didn’t answer, just searched his eyes for something—something that made Louis’ skin tingle in anticipation. And then Harry’s lips were on his, slow at first and then more demanding. Louis gasped into his mouth at the first touch. Somehow, he hadn’t understood what had been about to happen, the alcohol dulling his ability to think clearly. 

The kiss confused him. His body responded immediately, pressing closer to the source of the sparks flitting through him. But his mind finally pushed its way through to ask him what the hell he was doing, and he pushed against Harry’s chest to pull them apart.

Harry looked dazed and gorgeous and possibly as confused as Louis felt. Louis wanted to kiss him again. But he didn’t. Instead he smiled like the most bizarre thing hadn’t just happened. “I’ll go grab us another round!”

He turned and scampered away through the crowd before Harry or anyone else could stop him. As he waited in line at the bar, he pressed his fingers to his lips as though to feel the ghost of Harry’s kiss. 

He gathered up the cups, precarious in his hands. He tried to concentrate on not spilling them as he made his way back, but it was hard when Harry had just kissed him. Harry kissed him. Sounded fake. Drunk. They were both drunk though. That had to be the explanation. He would think about it later. 

Later wouldn’t come until after he fell asleep in the back of the uber, drooling on Niall’s shoulder. And after he woke up with the worst hangover. And after Meg cooked them a greasy plate of eggs and bacon at two o’clock in the afternoon. And after he and Niall sat on Hank’s patio with their guitars and a fire in the fire pit and began writing a new song.

“We were dancing, dancing to Bruno,” Louis sang, a smile in his voice as Niall let out a cackle.

“And I couldn’t turn away from you,” Niall continued.

“Yeah, I saw you smiling, breaking the silence. Telling me just what you want.”

“There in the moment, I was reminded, I haven’t felt this way in a while.”

The fire burned long into the night, and maybe the song wasn’t finished yet, but it was the spark of something. Both of them could feel it. It crackled in the strings of their guitars and the rasp of their voices. This is what they’d both been searching for. 

  
  


Louis took out one shirt after another, quickly studying them and then discarding them onto the floor in disgust. 

“What are you doing?”

“Hey, Ni. Just looking for something to wear. Why do I not have any clothes?”

“Uh, Lou, there’s about twenty shirts laying at your feet and to be honest, I can’t believe you brought so many clothes with you here. Where did these all come from?” Niall picked up a blue t-shirt and raised an eyebrow. “This matches your eyes.”

Louis eyed it critically and then grabbed it out of Niall’s hands and tugged it on over his head. He stepped back to look at himself in the floor length mirror on the inside of the closet door. The shirt really did match his eyes. Of course, now it was wrinkled from laying on the floor and he should probably iron it. “Do you have an iron?”

“What the fuck do you think?”

“That you have an iron here because you’re the most particular person I know.”

“Damn right.”

Niall motioned at him to follow, and he let himself be dutifully led into Niall’s impeccable room where an iron was procured quickly from it’s spot on a shelf in the closet. A small, portable ironing board was next, and then Niall held out a hand. “Come on. I’m about ninety percent sure you don’t know how to iron something.”

Louis quickly flung the shirt back up over his head and handed it to Niall. “I’m pleased you think there was even a ten percent chance I did.”

Niall snorted and laid the shirt out before going to plug in the iron and letting it heat up. “So what’s all this about then?”

“What’s what about?”

Niall’s lips pressed into a line. He did not look impressed. “You’re having a meltdown about what to wear to a bonfire and fireworks.”

Louis shrugged. “Thought it might be nice to look—nice.”

He was fairly certain Niall’s eyebrows didn't go any higher as he handed back the shirt, freshly ironed. “Sure, Lou. I’m sure this has nothing to do with Harry.”

He never should have told Niall about the kiss. 

Louis put the shirt back on and began walking towards the bathroom to start working on his hair. He stopped and looked down at his jean shorts. Were these nice enough for tonight?

“Your jorts are fine,” Niall calls out from his room. “Your ass is juicy in them.”

He’d clearly been spending too much time with Niall if he was answering questions Louis hadn’t asked out loud. 

Harry’s Range Rover took them straight through town and towards the fair grounds where the fireworks would be shot off later tonight. Cars lined the road outside of it, and people were already milling about and setting up blankets and chairs in the park next to the grounds. They passed all this until they reached a house on a large lot just beyond the other side of the fair grounds. 

Bypassing the front of the house, Shawn led them around the side and into the back yard where a bonfire was already blazing. 

“Can’t believe you actually came this year,” Shawn said, nudging Harry as they walked.

“Yeah, me either,” Harry mumbled.

It was then that Louis noticed how stiffly Harry held himself as they walked into a group of people their own age, drinking and laughing and shouting out at Shawn. He’d been under the impression that Harry got along with everyone, but now that he thought about it, all of Harry’s friends with the exception of Shawn were a lot older than them.

Shawn suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned a curious eye on Harry. “Why  _ did _ you agree to come?”

Niall nudged Louis in the ribs and grinned. 

“Shut up, Niall,” he hissed.

Harry glanced back at them. “Seemed like it might be fun. And I love fireworks.”

Niall snorted and then tried to play it off as a cough. Shawn grabbed Niall by the hand and led him off in the direction of the coolers set up on the deck. Cold beers were passed around as they stood in the late afternoon sun. 

The smell of grilled burgers and hot dogs wafted over them on the other side of the deck as someone manned the grill. And people stopped by to talk to Shawn and meet Niall. It was clear by the way people approached them that everyone assumed Shawn and Niall were together. There were of course a few people who asked Niall for photos, but Shawn immediately shut it down, saving Niall from having to either take the photo or decline a fan. 

It was impressive really. 

He turned to say as much to Harry who hadn’t left his side but had been quieter than normal. Harry stood there still stiff and quiet and frowning at Niall and Shawn as they interacted with the people around them. 

“What’s wrong?”

Harry pulled himself from his reverie as though surprised Louis had spoken. “Nothing.”

“You’re staring at our friends like you’re plotting their deaths.”

Harry honked out a laugh that he quickly covered. “What? No, I’m not.”

Louis couldn’t help but smile at that laugh. “You totally were, but okay.”

Harry shrugged, but his body had loosened up after the laugh and his lips turned up on one side now. “You hungry? We should eat.”

They left their corner of the deck to fix up a plate at a table set up with food, standing so close together that their arms brushed against each other. Louis wondered if the touch had been intentional or not. The deck had begun to fill up with people, so they took their food out to where lawn chairs had been set up next to the fire and dragged them over to a shaded spot under a tree.

A guy who looked a bit younger than them approached and called out to Harry. “Hey, Harry, how are the horses doing?”

“They’re good.” Harry grinned. “How are you doing?”

“Good, just finished my sophomore year at Colorado State.”

“That’s great, Elias!” Harry turned to Louis. “Louis, this is Eli. He used to do some horseback riding at the ranch.”

Eli leaned in as if imparting a secret. “I was a favorite I think. He even let me ride Forrest Jump a few times.”

“Oh my god, Forest’s name is Forrest  _ Jump _ ?” Louis asked, horror in his tone. “I should have known there was more to your horse’s name than just Forest.”

Harry just shrugged. “Eli, this is Louis Tomlinson. He’s staying over at Hank’s for a while.”

“Cool. You buying a Gypsy Vanner from Hank?”

“Oh—uh, maybe? But that’s not why I’m there. I work with his nephew, and Hank’s letting us hang out for a while.”

Eli looked a little confused at this explanation, but then his face cleared in acceptance. “Nice. Well, if you decide you want a horse, Hank’s the man to see.”

“I’ve noticed that.”

A crease formed between Harry’s eyebrows. “Are you serious about buying a horse?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ve been enjoying my lessons, and I’m sure I could find stables in—”

Eli’s mouth fell open with a gasp. “Is that Niall Horan? Oh my god, is Shawn  _ kissing _ him? What is happening?”

Harry’s head turned to look in the direction Eli indicated, and the creases between his brows deepened. 

There wasn’t really any point in denying it, Louis decided. “Yeah, that’s Niall Horan, and yeah, he’s kissing Shawn. They’re in a relationship.”

“Do you know Niall?” Eli asked, whipping around to stare at Louis.

“Yeah, we write songs together. That’s why we’re in Colorado. Working on the next album.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! I love Niall’s music! Did you help write “On the Loose”? Or “This Town”? Or “Slow Hands”?”

“Uh, yes.”

Harry looked completely unamused at this point. “Well, it was nice to hear you’re doing so well, Eli. You’re welcome to stop in any time and see the horses.”

“Oh, uh—thanks, Harry. Will do.” Apparently Eli got the hint he’d been dismissed. “Nice to meet you, Louis.”

A bubble seemed to form around them after their conversation with Eli. No one else tried to approach them, which was completely different than at the music festival, when he’d been stopped often. 

“So—” Harry began. “Did you help write those songs?”

Louis huffed out a laugh before taking a drink of his beer. “Yeah, I did. I didn’t help write all of his songs on the last album, but a good number of them.”

“Just the hits?”

Louis grinned and gave him a wink. “If it was a banger, then I probably wrote on it.”

“So that’s why he wants you to write the entire next album with him.”

“Well, I think we just get along well and have the same kind of lyrical style. We’re storytellers. So I think we work pretty well together.”

“Clearly.”

“You and Shawn work together pretty well, too.”

“Yeah, he’s a hard worker. I’m lucky to have him around. It was rough going when I first started.”

“If you don’t mind my asking—” Harry immediately stiffened. “Never mind.”

“No. It’s fine. What were you going to ask?”

“Just—wondering how you got here. How did you end up running a horse rescue with the worst name ever?”

“Shut up,” Harry said with a smile. “You mean the cleverest name ever.”

“Sure, sure.”

“The last movie I worked on. It was a Western. And I hadn’t really been around horses much before, but I just found myself spending more and more time with the trainers and the horses. My character didn’t really need to be on horseback, so I didn’t need to ride. But I ended up learning anyway. One of the horses ended up having some issues.”

Harry looked away towards the sky, and Louis noticed how much later it had become as the sun sat low in the sky now. 

“Anyway, I got a little—upset when I realized that the trainer was desperately making phone calls, trying to find a place to send the horse or it would be auctioned off. And that’s pretty much how I ended up with my first horse.”

Harry turned back to look at him, and Louis wondered not for the first time what Harry was trying to see in his face.

“That’s amazing, Harry. Really. So what the hell did you do once you accidentally had a horse? Asking for someone who is considering buying a horse he doesn’t know what to do with.”

Harry snorted. “Well, first I found some stables outside LA, so I’d have somewhere to take her. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing at first, but through the trainer on set, I found people to take care of her. After the movie wrapped, I stopped answering my agent’s calls and just went to the stables everyday.”

Harry paused for a minute and took a breath. “I could give you the number for the stables I used in LA if you end up wanting to buy one of Hank’s horses.”

“Oh. Um, thanks. Yeah, I’ll take you up on that. If I—do that,” he answered. “So you fell in love with your horse and just never acted again, huh?”

A slow smile crept over Harry’s face. “Kind of. I just felt the most peace I’d felt in a long time when I was with Britney.”

“You named your horse Britney?”

Harry’s eyes shone with amusement. “Sure did.”

Louis narrowed his eyes. “Britney what?”

“Britney Spurs,” Harry said, dissolving into laughter.

“Oh my god. I knew it.” Louis shook his head in pretend disgust. “So how did you and Britney end up in Colorado?”

Harry’s face clouded over. “That’s a longer story.”

The sound of a firecracker startled them out of their bubble. A burst of red sparks flooded the sky above them. The show had begun and Louis hadn’t even noticed it had grown dark.

Shawn and Niall appeared then, ushering them to pick up their chairs and head into the front yard for a better view of the show. They all sat together staring up into the inky blackness punctuated by bursts of sparkling color lighting up the night. 

When the show ended, they decided to head back into the downtown area for a drink or two at The Dusty Boot. Harry ordered them drinks for free although he’d switched to ginger ale, and the four of them sat talking in a booth for a while before Melanie approached with a plate of nachos. 

“Thought you all might be hungry.” She grinned widely before looking pointedly at Louis. “You must be Harry’s boyfriend then. You’re as pretty as Kim said you were.”

“Um—” Louis looked at Harry in alarm at the same moment as Niall must have accidentally snorted up some beer into his lungs and began hacking wildly, knocking over an empty glass onto the table. Louis was almost thankful that all attention had turned to Niall. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Niall wheezed as Shawn pounded him on the back. 

“Cough it up, babe,” Shawn instructed as Niall coughed a few more times, grabbing paper napkins off the table to wipe his mouth. 

Melanie whisked away the empty glasses, and when Louis turned to ask Harry why he hadn’t told her the truth yet, he saw that Harry seemed to be trying his best to pretend none of this had even happened. And maybe that would have worked except they were sitting at a table with Niall Horan.

As soon as Niall could speak, he wheezed out his words. “Why does she think you and Lou are—together?” Niall dissolved into a few more coughs before Harry could answer him though the frown on his face made it clear he’d rather not have been asked.

“A mutual friend got the wrong impression.” Harry’s face shuttered close. “Is that so ridiculous to believe that Louis would be with someone like me?”

Niall pounded himself in the chest a few times with a balled up hand and cleared his throat. “Not what I meant.”

Shawn jumped up from the table, practically dragging Niall out of the booth. “Let’s play some darts!”

It hadn’t felt particularly awkward to be seated next to Harry in the booth until there was no one sitting across from them. He picked up a chip loaded with cheese just to have something to do besides sit in silence.

“So—” Harry began. “I’m not really sure why I didn’t tell Melanie the truth. I guess you’re probably wondering why I did that.”

Louis munched on the chip. “I guess so. I’m not sure why you didn’t. Or why you didn’t ever tell Kim.”

Harry sighed beside him before he picked up a chip of his own to eat. “I guess I didn’t mind them thinking that. But I’m sorry if it’s made you uncomfortable.”

He shifted a bit to turn and look at Harry, but Harry just swallowed and then chewed his bottom lip staring off towards the bar. “I’m not uncomfortable. Just—confused, I guess. About why you’d want them to think that.”

Harry turned to him, an incredulous look on his face. “Are you joking?”

“No, why would I be?”

“I kissed you at the festival!”

“Okay, but we were drunk, and—” 

Harry turned away from him and took a drink of his beer. 

“Right. We were drunk,” Harry said, his voice flat. 

Louis felt his stomach sink a little. “Yeah, I wasn’t done. We were drunk, and I wasn’t sure how much you remembered or if you regretted it.”

“Did  _ you _ regret it?”

“No.”

“No?”

Louis rolled his eyes. “What do you want me to say? Oh, Harry, you’re such an amazing kisser, please kiss me again.”

Harry’s eyes turned towards him again, this time sparkling a bit in the dim light of the bar. His lips curled in amusement. “Oh, I’d love to hear you beg me to kiss you.”

Louis snorted. “Dream on.”

Harry leaned in until his lips touched the outer rim of Louis’ ear. “What if I told you I can’t stop thinking about that kiss?”

A shiver danced across his spine. Harry was still so close he could feel his breath huff out in small puffs against his neck. 

“Louis?”

“Yeah?” His voice cracked a bit, and he felt his face heat with embarrassment.

“I really want to kiss you again.”

His lips were so close, promising him that same magic he’d felt before. “Here?”

Harry suddenly seemed to snap out of the trance he’d put them both in and noticed they were in public. He sat back a little. “No. Would you want to maybe come to my house? Maybe have a drink or something?”

Louis didn’t trust his shaky voice and just nodded. Harry was out of his seat in a snap and strode across the bar towards the darts. Oh, right. Niall and Shawn. Fuck if he coudln’t see Niall’s smirk from here.

And then Harry was back at his side, holding out a hand to help him up and out of the booth. A thousand butterflies tumbled inside him as he took Harry’s hand and Harry didn’t let go. His fingers threaded through Louis’ as he led him out of the bar, stopping to wave at Melanie as they walked past the bar and out into the street. 

They didn’t speak as they walked towards Harry’s Range Rover, and Harry’s hand never let go until he was opening Louis’ door for him. They didn’t speak for much of the ride to the ranch, instead listening to the radio and smiling at each other when one of Niall’s songs from his last album played. The air in the car felt thick as he breathed in the anticipation, and his heart beat a little faster in his chest. 

When they pulled through the gate onto Harry’s property and up the long drive lit by small solar lamps, Harry glanced over at him with a look that made Louis want to stop the car and climb into his lap right that second. 

The house was dark as they approached, and Harry pulled the Range Rover into the garage. A fancy looking sports car sat in a spot next to it. Harry flushed when he saw Louis had noticed it. 

“I don’t really drive it much but—” he trailed off.

“Sure you don’t, Movie Star.”

“I don’t!” Harry’s nose twitched a bit. “I’d give you a ride in it though if you want.”

Louis raised his eyebrows. “Oh, really? You’re going to give me a ride, are you?”

“Mhm.” Harry’s lips pressed together before he could hold in his honk of a laugh no longer and let it burst out.

Louis barked out his own laugh. “You have either the best laugh I’ve ever heard or the worst one.”

“At least I don’t actually laugh the words  _ ha ha _ when I laugh.”

“Hey now,” Louis protested. “You better watch yourself.”

“Or what?”

“Or no kisses for you.”

Harry’s lips turned into an exaggerated pout. “Come inside and see if I can change your mind.”

“Pshh, is that line all you’ve got?” Louis asked, but he opened the door himself and walked into Harry’s house, and maybe he let his hips swing a little bit more than necessary as he did. 

He stopped walking before he got too far in the dark, not knowing where anything was or what he might run into. And then he felt the touch of Harry’s fingers at his waist as he stepped around him and led him through the dark.

Harry flipped a switch that only lit the hallway behind them and then sat on a stool at the huge kitchen island. “Do you want a drink?”

Louis shook his head.

“What do you want then?”

Louis shrugged.

Harry’s eyes blazed and set Louis’ heart racing as he crooked one long finger at him. “Come here.”

Louis moved towards him, almost hypnotized, until he stood right between Harry’s legs. Harry’s arms reached for him, his hands at his hips pulling him into his body. Louis let himself be pulled, and his arms fell onto Harry’s shoulders as he let himself be wrapped up in Harry.

He stood a little above Harry like that and ducked down to press his lips to Harry’s lips, curious to see if he could recapture what he’d felt before. It was definitely still there. Whatever sparks were between them when drinking and dancing to Bruno Mars were most certainly still here in Harry’s kitchen.

Harry deepened the kiss and his hands splayed out on Louis’ back and then lowered to his ass, pressing him further into his body. Louis could feel Harry’s hardness against him and they both groaned into their mouths at the touch. Electric pin pricks danced in lines across Louis’ nerves, a live wire of sensation. 

When Louis pulled back a bit with a gasp, his eyes opened to a sight he would never have thought possible as recently as a few weeks ago. Harry, his hair mussed and his eyes hooded, sat on a stool with lips made a bit puffy and red by Louis’ own kisses. Harry sat here in front of him, looking as though he’d like to devour him. It was a sight worth seeing.

“God, Louis. If you could see how beautiful you look right now.”

Well, apparently it was mutual then. Louis ducked his head back in again to feel Harry’s scorching kiss and wandering hands across his body. It had been so long since he’d felt this kind of chemistry with anyone. Had he ever felt like this before?

He was as hard now as Harry and desperate to find friction as he sought a release. It was Harry’s turn to pull away now with a gasp though he hadn’t taken his hands off of him. “Louis?”

Louis peppered a few kisses down Harry’s jaw to his neck. “Yeah?” 

Harry made an incoherent noise deep in his throat. “Uh—Lou?”

Louis huffed out a laugh against his neck. “Yeah?”

“I uh—I—you, what do you want?”

Louis stopped his torment. “I don’t know. What do you want?”

Harry rested his forehead against Louis’ and took a deep breath. “I want a lot of things. I want to carry you to my room and—”

“And what?” he whispered.

“Do more than just kiss you. But also I don’t want to scare you away.”

Louis let his hand press against the front of Harry’s jeans. “Impressive, but I wouldn’t call it scary.”

Harry choked on air. “Fuck.”

“Mm. Not quite yet, I don’t think. Guess I should leave you wanting more.” He let his fingers stroke up the length of the bulge in Harry’s jeans to the sound of Harry’s whines. God, it had been a while since he wanted someone to fuck him this badly, but he wasn’t entirely sure how good of an idea it was. Though he wasn’t sure he really cared if this was a good idea anymore. 

He stepped back. Harry’s hands seemed to involuntarily tighten on him just before letting him go. And then all of a sudden there was a bark and a push, and Louis stumbled backwards, only just righting himself before falling over the pile of black fur that had just appeared behind him.

“Sorry,” Harry laughed. “We must have woken up Lissie.”

Harry leaned in giving him a quick peck on the lips with Lissie squarely between them. Harry stood up from the stool. 

“I should probably get back.” Not that he had anything to do besides go back to his bedroom and pull himself off thinking about Harry.

“Okay. Walk you back?”

“Sure.”

Harry took his hand again, a soft smile on his face as he led Louis out into a moonlit mountain night, and Louis found that this was also a sight quite worth seeing. 

  
  


It had been a few days since he’d seen Harry, but he wasn’t concerned. Tucked away in his mind was Harry showing up at Hank’s door looking gorgeous and apologetic that he’d be gone a few days to see about a horse. 

He had spent the past few days riding horses with Liam and shooting the shit with Hank and finishing up writing the song he and Niall had started.

“I say we go ahead and record this for now. I think it’s as ready as it can be while we’re here.”

Louis nodded. “Agreed. Finishing touches are for LA.” 

They picked up their guitars and headed for Niall’s bedroom where he set up the mic and interface. Louis took the guitar and waited for Niall to start recording. He played the guitar to let Niall focus solely on the vocals. 

They’d worked through the lyrics quite a bit, but as Niall sang with his eyes closed and passion in his voice, Louis realized how much this song meant to Niall. No, how much Shawn meant to Niall.

“All of my life it’s been heartbreak weather. Thinking to myself it won’t get better. It can be so lonely in this city. But it feels different when you’re with me. It feels different when you’re with me.”

Niall opened his eyes as soon as Louis’ guitar played the final chord. “Another take?”

“No. Niall, that was—it was really good. I don’t think you need another take.”

“Okay,” Niall smiled. His eyes narrowed a little. “What aren’t you saying, Tommo?”

“You really care about him.”

Niall’s cheeks flushed with color, and he shrugged a shoulder, a small smile creeping over his face.

“I never thought of you as lonely, but now that I think about it—I think I get it.”

Niall chewed on his thumbnail. “I mean, I wasn’t crying my eyes out every night, but yeah, gets a little lonely out on tour all the time. Not really great for relationships when you have to leave someone behind all the time.”

“Yeah. Kind of one of those all alone in a crowded room situations.”

A long sigh released itself from Niall’s chest. “I’ve always got people around. Friends, management, songwriters, the band, whatever. But it’s pretty clear I haven’t been able to keep a relationship with someone going through any tour.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Shawn seems different for you. Seems like something more than someone you could let go of because a tour has kept you apart.”

“He is. Never felt like this before.”

“I know. You wrote it into the song.”

A pillow flew at his head. “Shut up.”

“Hey, now! I didn’t write that line!”

“I don’t know. Was thinking maybe I didn’t want to leave him behind.”

Louis sat up straighter. “You thinking about staying?”

Niall’s face scrunched up comically. “No, ‘course not. I meant I was thinking about asking Shawn to come with me.”

“Oh.” He slumped back into the chair. “Right. Of course.”

He wasn’t even sure why staying had been his first thought. Of course, that didn’t make any sense. The more he considered it, the more it made sense for Shawn to leave and fly off with Niall. Shawn who wasn’t sure what he wanted out of life here in Colorado. Shawn who always wanted an adventure. Shawn who wished he could see the world. 

Funny how roaming all over the world no longer appealed to Louis in quite the same way anymore. The thought of a house with his own recording studio drifted into his mind again. Malibu? Somewhere on the beach? Or in the hills, now that he’s grown used to the mountains here? He blinked back the thoughts to focus back on Niall.

“I think you deserve to be happy, and if Shawn is part of your happiness, you shouldn’t let him go.”

“What if—” Niall ran a hand over his face with a groan. “What if he doesn’t want to leave though? What if I’m making more of this than it is?”

“You’re not. But you don’t have to ask him tomorrow. There’s still time before we’re done with this album.” He set down his guitar. “You seeing him tonight?”

“Maybe later. He’s got a friend’s birthday party to go to. Thought I might be a distraction if I went.”

“Well, you can help me and Hank put the horses to bed then.”

Niall made a face. “This place is getting to you. You’re the one gonna end up staying here and becoming a cowboy.”

Niall stayed holed up in his room most of the next day, which wasn’t like him. Maybe there was a golf tournament on tv that Louis didn’t know about. He brushed it off and spent the day learning more about Hank’s horses and riding with Liam again and grooming his favorite horses. A farrier arrived to place some shoes, and Louis watched every second of it, absorbed by his interest in everything to do with Hank’s ranch.

At dinner, Niall emerged looking a bit worse for wear. 

“Are you hungover? When were you drinking?” he muttered under his breath as Meg brought over the food. 

Niall shook off his questions, but after dessert, he cornered him again. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, just spent a lot of today thinking about what we talked about yesterday. About Shawn.” There was an odd mulish expression on Niall’s face that Louis didn’t care for and one that he hadn’t often seen. 

“Why?”

“Oh, just got drunk dialed last night and saw an eyeful on Instagram that’s all.” Niall waved a hand as if to pretend it was all inconsequential. “You got time to mess around with a new thing I’ve been thinking about?”

“It’s what we’re here for. I’ll grab my guitar. You want to sit out on the porch?”

Niall nodded, heading towards his own room. 

When he got out next to the fire pit, Niall started playing through a few chord progressions until Louis sat down. At first Louis just listened, joining in a bit once he got the feel for the tone. There was something there, something subtle beneath the upbeat nature of the song. Something was wrong. Not with the song. Something with Niall.

“So this song got any words yet?”

Niall shrugged. “Maybe a few.”

After a minute of two of humming, Louis heard a few mumbled lyrics here and there. 

“It’s easy—pretend that I’m not caught up—you hurt me—doesn’t even cross your mind—tell me that you love me—but you’re out there running wild.”

Louis played along mindlessly trying just to listen to piece together the lyrics Niall was singing, not just to help write the song but to figure out what the hell happened.

“Daydreaming about where your lips been—”

“Wait, what?” Louis couldn’t let that one go. “Did Shawn do something? Kiss someone else?”

Niall shrugged and kept playing. 

“Put the guitar down, Niall.”

“No.” Niall continued to play and even sang another line. “Pull my heart right out my chest and drive a train through—”

Louis yanked the guitar right out of his hands. “Spill. Now. We’re not writing an angst song until you tell me what happened. And then I’ll help you write your bitter ass song, which by the way is pretty damn good.”

Niall sniffed, but didn’t try to wrestle the guitar back. “Well,  _ I _ spent the night telling you how I saw a future with Shawn, and  _ Shawn _ spent the night getting drunk and leaving slobbery kisses on his friends on Instagram.”

“What about the drunk dial?”

Niall flopped back in the chair. “It was Shawn.” 

“And? What did he say?” Louis placed Niall’s guitar down next to his own chair out of Niall’s reach.

“Oh, you know—that he loves me. Said it for the first time while he was drunk, so doesn’t even really count, does it?”

Louis cringed. “I don’t know that it’s discounted, but it’s certainly not ideal.”

“Mhm. So let’s get back to writing my song, which as you’ve reminded me that’s what we’re here for.”

“What was on his Instagram?”

Niall’s lips tightened into a straight line, and his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t respond.

“Fine.” Louis pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened Instagram. 

He found Shawn’s quickly enough and luckily the stories hadn’t yet disappeared. The first few didn’t look like much, just a line of shots and a group of people all drinking them. But as he clicked through he found some with video from Shawn’s point of view of a girl grinding up on him as music blared. And another where he was licking a stripe up a guy’s cheek, presumably the birthday friend since he was wearing a birthday crown. 

These were mixed in with less innocuous videos and photos including the last one of Shawn kissing the camera on his phone and saying, “I miss you. Gonna call you right now.” Louis assumed he meant Niall.

He looked back and Niall. “So I can see being a little jealous, but—”

“Not jealous,” Niall shot back.

“Sure, you’re not.” Louis rolled his eyes. “Least jealous song you’ve ever written.”

“Not jealous—heartbroken,” Niall corrected.

“Okay, drama queen. I’ve literally never seen you act like this in my life, so I’m going to assume that you’re in love with him, too.”

Niall looked at him like he’d grown another head. “What the hell did you think I meant by asking him to come with me when I’m done here?”

“I don’t know. I knew you were serious about him. Didn’t know you were madly in love with him.”

Niall snorted. “Not anymore.”

“Well, I suggest we finish this song, so you can put all your emotions towards something productive and then go talk to your dumb boyfriend who probably has the world’s worst hangover. I’d suggest not telling him you wrote an angry song about him disguised as a fun pop song though.”

“Whatever. Let’s do this.” 

“Hey, just—I looked at the pictures and videos and I mean, yeah he was sloppy but no I don’t think he cheated on you. And if he ended the night slobbering on his phone and telling you he loves you, I’d bet he spent most of the night talking about you.”

The lines in Niall’s forehead softened. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean, you need to talk to him. Tell him it bothered you, but let him explain. I mean, do you really think he was into the girl he was dancing with?”

“No,” Niall scoffed. 

“How about the burly dude with the birthday crown?”

“I guess not. I guess that was the birthday friend.”

“Looked like just messing around with friends to me.” Louis smiled. “But for the sake of the song, let’s go ahead and go with pissed off Niall. What was that last bit, pull my heart right out my chest, drive a train through?

Niall sat up in his chair. “Give me my guitar.”

Niall headed directly over to Shawn’s after they had a decent version of the song figured out, but Louis stayed out by the fire for a while just staring into the flames and thinking about Harry. He was supposed to be back tonight, and he wondered when he might see him again and what it might be like to talk to him after what had happened between them. Or would it all go back to what it was like before?

A restless feeling set into his bones. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head with a sigh and decided against heading inside. The night sky beckoned him, and he answered its call. Walking out onto the ranch at night was like nothing Louis had ever experienced in LA or anywhere else for that matter. Thousands of stars pricked pin holes of light in the violet darkness. 

He lifted his face to the night and just marveled at it all until he heard a bleating behind him. He’d walked closer to the fence than he’d realized and he could just make out the white outline of a goat watching him. With a laugh, he headed closer to the fence.

“What are you doing out here, Lacey? You escape from somewhere?” Lacey bleated at him a few more times from her side of the fence. “Or does Harry just let you roam around at night?”

“Harry most certainly doesn’t.”

Louis let out a yelp at Harry’s voice only a few yards away. He hadn’t even heard him approaching. Harry was on Hank’s side of the fence, not his own, as he neared the fence where Louis stood with Lacey.

“Go on back to the barn, Lacey,” Harry called out, and with one last bleat of annoyance Lacey trotted away.

“You’re home,” Louis said. It was out of his mouth before he could take back such an obvious statement.

Harry nodded as though he hadn’t said something so pointless. “I am.”

“A little late for a walk.”

Harry walked a few paces closer until Louis could see the quirk of his eyebrow. “I could say the same to you. I had a purpose though.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Came to find you, didn’t I?” Harry said, quiet in the darkness.

Louis swallowed. “When did you get back?” 

“Just now. Haven’t even gone in my house yet. Came straight to Hank’s. He said he’d seen you walk off out here. What are you doing out here?”

“Walking. Thinking. Looking at the sky. You don’t see skies like this in LA.”

“No. You don’t.” Harry moved even closer until he was standing just a breath away. He reached out his fingers to brush a lock of Louis’ hair off his cheek and over his ear. “What have you been thinking about?”

Louis wasn’t even sure he could speak with his heart in his throat like this. “You.”

“Mm.” Harry stepped even closer, bending his head to Louis. His lips brushed against Louis’ with his words, but didn’t press any further. “Haven’t—stopped—thinking—about you.”

Louis couldn’t stop the moan that escaped into Harry’s mouth as he wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck and his lips surged forward. Harry caught Louis’ body against him and held him close enough for Louis to feel the hardness of Harry’s chest against his own, their legs intertwined. 

Harry stepped backwards a few paces, not releasing Louis’ lips from his own, until his back hit up against the fence, jostling Louis even further into him. And then Harry’s lips pulled away, but only to kiss down his jaw and ear and neck.

Heat pooled in his stomach at the feel of Harry’s lips as Harry whispered against his skin. “All I could think about was this. Was you.”

Louis couldn’t speak, his breath heavy in his chest. Harry’s hands splayed out beneath his shirt as though desperate to touch as much of Louis as possible. Louis stepped back and pulled his own shirt over his head, throwing it to the ground, giving Harry the unsaid access he asked for. Harry’s hands roamed now over his bare skin, seeming to want to touch as much as possible all at once. 

But then, it wasn’t enough. Harry’s lips captured his again, and he felt Harry’s fingers at the button of his jeans and then the zipper as he drew it down. Harry pulled away from the kiss long enough to whisper, “Okay?”

“Yes, god, yes.”

Harry’s long fingers drew his jeans down over him and then his boxer briefs as well until he stood before Harry, pressed against him nearly naked and hard. Harry’s eyes raked over him. “You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. You’re glowing.”

His heart thundered in his ears, and he felt vulnerable like this with nothing to cover him but Harry’s gaze. “Are you going to keep all your clothes on?”

Harry let out a soft bark of laughter, but immediately tore his shirt up and over his head, throwing it to join Louis’ on the ground. Louis immediately reached for him. It was so much, so overwhelming to have Harry in front of him like this. He could see the faint markings of Harry’s tattoos in the moonlight and he wanted to trace the patterns with his tongue. Maybe later because Harry was taking off more of his own clothes, loosening his jeans and sliding them down his thighs, thick with muscle.

Louis stared in awe at the picture he made leaning back against the fence like this, stroking his cock and staring at Louis, hunger in his eyes. “Come here.”

Louis moved close enough to touch now and gasped when Harry’s fingers left his own cock to encircle Louis’ and slid his fist up and down the length of it. It was a little rough from the friction, but fuck did it ever do it for Louis. Sparks lit up behind his eyes, brighter than the stars overhead. 

The head of Harry’s cock glistened, and Harry drew them together so that he could wrap one large hand around both their cocks, gathering the moisture from the tips to roughly pull them off together. Louis gasped into Harry’s mouth again and again as Harry’s hand stroked them together in rhythm. He clung to Harry’s shoulders as his muscles tightened and Harry’s breaths quickened. Louis threw his head back as the pleasure increased to its peak, and he looked up at the sky, the stars a blur of movement in his dazed eyes.

Harry’s moans sounded torn from him, deep as a growl as he came with both of them still together in his fist. Harry rested his forehead on Louis’ shoulder, and he could feel the slight dampness of sweat there. The harsh panting of their breaths began to even out, and then, he felt Harry’s lips against his collarbone. “Come home with me.”


	4. Chapter 4

Sunday night dinners at Hank’s had turned into a family atmosphere of stories and laughter and talk of horses. Hank never acknowledged openly that he knew the men sat at his table were seeing each other a lot more than at Sunday night dinners. And nothing was ever said about Niall or Louis not always spending the night under his roof.

So no one seemed terribly surprised when during one Sunday night dinner Harry turned to Louis with an invitation.

“I was thinking about going away for the weekend.” Harry wore a happy smile on his face as he looked directly at Louis.

“Where to?” Hank asked. 

“Well, if Louis is up to it, I thought I’d show him a little more of Colorado. Kim’s been wanting me to come up to the springs and there’s a nice resort nearby we could stay at. Maybe go hiking.”

“Oh, uh—” He hadn’t known Harry was going to put him on the spot like this. “Yeah, love to if Niall can spare me.”

“Well, I want to go on a romantic weekend, too!” Niall crinkled his nose. “I don’t know if I want to do all that stuff though.”

“I could take you to Red Rocks,” Shawn piped up. “Let’s see who’s playing next weekend.”

“Red Rocks! Hell, yes, let’s go! I love it there.”

“We can hang out in Denver the rest of the weekend.” Shawn jumped up from his seat and pulled back Niall’s chair as well. 

The rest of the table just watched them go, chattering the whole way out the door. 

Louis shrugged. “I guess Niall doesn’t need me next weekend, so I’m all yours.”

Harry’s eyes gleamed at his words. “I like the sound of that.”

Hank cleared his throat, which was a decent reminder that they weren’t alone in the room. “Well, I guess it’ll just be me and Meg next weekend then. Have some fun and show Louis what he’s missing living in California.”

The town of Glenwood Springs nestled itself into a mountain, stunning in its beauty, and the old world feel of the hotel they drove up to definitely appealed to Louis. Harry had told him it was a historic hotel, and the stately architecture certainly held charm. When they entered the lobby, the staff was quick to whisk them away to the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown suite, which earned Harry a raised eyebrow.

“You gonna make me watch  _ Titanic _ again?”

“If you get lucky.”

“Oh, I plan on getting lucky alright,” Louis muttered.

Harry snorted and then coughed into his fist as they were shown into the suite. 

The furnishings were as opulent as Molly Brown would have wanted them to be with carved wooden furniture, rich bold colors and private balconies. There were modern touches of course including a huge jacuzzi tub that Louis thought looked like fun.

As Louis stood in the suite just gazing around, Harry sidled up to him and intertwined their fingers together. “Want to go look at the view?”

It seemed everywhere Louis turned in Colorado there was another breathtaking view, and the one from their balcony was no exception. In fact, it was maybe the most beautiful view yet with large mountains opening up into the valley of the town beneath them. 

“It’s gorgeous up here.”

“Mm,” Harry agreed with him, releasing his hand only to wrap his arms around him from behind and resting his head on Louis’ shoulder. They stared out at the scene before them for a while, and Louis let himself lean back into the press of Harry’s body.

He turned in Harry’s arms and offered his lips up for a kiss. Harry’s eyes widened before closing to kiss him and Louis tucked that little quirk away to think about at a later time.

Louis pulled back from the kiss, leaving Harry’s lips chasing his and turning into a frown at the interruption. “Before this goes any further just wanted to make sure we weren’t ruining any of your plans. When’s Kim expecting us?”

“There’s no time frame on hot springs,” Harry mumbled against his lips, pulling him back in.

“Mmph,” he said against Harry’s kiss. “I think there is though if you still want to go today.”

“I’ll text Kim and tell her we’re coming tomorrow instead.

Louis let out a laugh as Harry swung him up in his arms with a grin and started carrying him back into the suite, depositing him on the large bed with an oof. Impatient fingers fumbled at the button and zipper of his jeans before Harry was yanking them down and off his body. He attempted to take off his shirt, but he wasn’t quick enough for Harry who pushed it up over his head eager to expose him more fully. 

Harry managed to wrangle his own shirt off and threw it to the floor in the pile of Louis’ clothes next to the bed. He crawled up and over Louis’ body until his hands planted on either side of Louis’ chest and his knees bracketed Louis’ hips. Louis reached for him then, threading his fingers through the soft hair at the nape of Harry’s neck. 

Harry bent his head to press his lips to the words inked across his chest, and he followed the dark lines of them before flicking his nipples with the wet warmth of his tongue. Louis’ fingers clung to his hair, keeping his head pressed to his skin, and bucking up his lower body to try to press against him there, too. 

He could feel the rough fabric of Harry’s jeans against his skin, so he released his hold on Harry’s hair to try to draw him back up his body and close enough to tug at the jeans. Harry seemed to understand and sat up, unbuttoning and unzipping, but keeping his eyes on Louis. Harry roughly pulled them down his thighs, exposing the fabric of his tight boxer briefs beneath his jeans. The outline of his hard cock against the thin fabric had Louis’ mouth watering at the sight of it.

But Harry made no move to finish the job of undressing. Louis bucked his hips up again. “Come on.”

Harry chuckled, a deep sound in his chest. “So impatient.”

Louis bucked up again. “You’re the one who carried me in here. Now do something about it.”

Harry crawled back off the bed to release his jeans to the floor, and then, with one raised brow at Louis’ eager gaze he peeled his boxer briefs to the floor. “Happy?”

“Fuck yes. Now come here and fuck me.”

Harry barked out a laugh as he turned towards the nightstand and brought out a small bag that he rifled through for a moment before producing lube and a condom that he tossed onto the bed next to Louis. He had thought Harry was aiming for a quickie before they headed off to do something on his agenda, but Harry appeared to want to take his time just like he usually did.

Louis had never had a lover like Harry before. One who touched every inch of him in a caress. Whose mouth tried to memorize him with his tongue. Every encounter with Harry had a measure of vulnerability to it. Harry always stripped him bare and treated him as something fine and rare as though Harry hadn’t been with some of the most beautiful people in Hollywood. 

Harry whispered words of praise and lust against his mouth just before exploring it with his tongue. His fingertips traveled down the length of Louis’ body until his thumb feathered over his hole in light touches, making Louis writhe beneath him. Louis made noises of protest when Harry pulled away, but it was only for the few moments it took for him to slick his fingers up and return to his exploration of Louis’ body. 

Returning to his previous position, Harry teased a finger again against Louis hole, eventually pushing in gently as he kissed Louis’ lips. He found a rhythm there with his tongue matching the motions of his finger. Louis knew he could come like this. Harry had proven that in the past. But he also knew that’s not what he wanted.

“Harry—” he mumbled against Harry’s lips. 

“Mm?” 

Louis gasped as Harry pressed his finger back inside him. “Want you.”

“Want you, too.”

“Ah—ah—want you—inside me.”

Harry’s finger pressed inside him, touching him deliberately to elicit the response he was looking for.

“Fuck. I—ah—fuck that feels good—but want you—”

Louis’ eyes fluttered open at the sudden stillness of Harry’s finger and kisses. Harry’s eyes held his gaze, green and sparked with desire. Harry’s stare was unnerving at the best of times, but like this it was if he could read Louis’ mind. He’s reminded again that sex with Harry is all consuming. 

Sometimes he wasn’t quite sure what Harry wanted from him.

And then there was no time to think again. Harry’s finger slid out from inside him, and he’d sat up on his knees between Louis’ parted legs, his cock hard and ready as he slid a condom onto himself. It was a sight Louis couldn’t look away from. 

Harry drew Louis’ legs up, gripping his ankle as he guided himself inside. Louis let out a breath as he tried to relax into the feeling, the fullness of having Harry inside him. He gasped as Harry’s hand wrapped around his cock. Harry’s muscles tightened as he slid further in, slow and deliberate, watching him. The veins in his neck protruded with the strain of holding himself in check. 

Louis reached for him then, and Harry complied with what he knew Louis wanted. Harry leaned forward to capture Louis in a kiss as he bent Louis’ legs to accommodate him. Louis grew frantic in his movements as he touched every part of Harry he could reach, the muscles of his arms and shoulders, the hard planes of his chest, the softness of the hair at the nape of his neck. 

Harry’s kisses grew rough as he plunged in and pulled back. When Harry released him from his bruising kiss, he drew back enough to watch where his cock pushed in and out of Louis. Fuck it was so much. He tugged the pillows beneath his head at the sensations flowing through him. 

But Harry wasn’t done with him. He pulled out to the sound of Louis’ whimpers, shushing him with kisses down his body. “Turn over.”

Louis quickly turned onto his stomach and Harry pushed him into place, taking Louis’ hands and placing them onto the headboard for him to grip. He tried pushing himself back onto Harry’s cock, but Harry only chuckled and let his hand slide down Louis’ exposed back. He held Louis apart and then slid back inside him to Louis’ great relief.

Louis clung to the headboard as Harry held him close, one hand wrapped around Louis’ cock and the other at his hip. He kept up a steady rhythm as his mouth and tongue kissed over Louis’ back and shoulders and neck. Harry whispered words against his skin that Louis barely registered. 

“So beautiful—just like that, Louis—let me take care of you—so good for me—you like that don’t you—”

Louis didn’t answer unless his moans of pleasure counted. And then Harry’s hand began to move more quickly over his cock and he plunged in more erratically, losing control over the tight grip he had on himself. And this was exactly what Louis wanted from him, a sign that Harry wasn’t in complete control after all. 

“Louis—Lou—fuck—” Harry stuttered out as he came and the loss of his control is what seemed to send Louis over the edge, coming into Harry’s fist as he stroked him through it.

Louis stretched himself out against the soft sheets of the bed as Harry stood over him a washcloth in hand. “You look beautiful like this.”

Harry’s words and his voice still rough from their activities made Louis hide his smile a bit in the safety of the pillow. And then Harry’s touch came to clean him, gentle yet thorough. “Come back to bed.”

Harry groaned as he knelt down on the bed beside him. “I want to, more than anything, but I did want to show you more of Colorado. So maybe we should go hiking or something. There are some really gorgeous views we can get to from here.”

“Mmm. Are you sure there’s anything more gorgeous than this view that I have now?” He half sat up and reached out a hand to grip Harry’s thick thigh. Colorado has given him a new appreciation for the bodies of men who ride horses. He suddenly found himself thrown back onto the bed, Harry looming over him with a grin.

“Don’t tempt me or you’ll never see another inch of this place.” His words belied his actions though as he bent his lips to the join of Louis’ neck and shoulder. 

Louis caught him off guard and shoved him off and towards the other side of the bed. “No, no. You want to see some views. Let’s go see some views.”

Harry’s lips turned in a curved frown, but he got up off the bed to get dressed. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You better. I could have been bent over that chair over there instead of walking around a mountain.”

A small whimper came from Harry’s throat. “Get dressed before I do just that.”

“Promises, promises,” Louis said as he laughed and grabbed his clothes off the floor.

It turned out that Louis hadn’t known what to expect at all. Hanging Lake and the steep, rigorous hiking they did to get there left Louis with a feeling spilling through him that he couldn’t put into words. This was more than just another scenic area. 

This was a winding climb through a deeply forested canyon. This was towering cliffs carved by an ancient river. This was a lake swirling with otherworldly colors. This was waterfalls splashing into the purest water he’d ever seen. 

It was breathtaking. 

He turned in circles taking it all in. It felt sacred. The rush of waterfalls was the loudest thing in this place, and he let it fill his mind and block out anything else. Being here in this place just felt so right, missing puzzle pieces slotting into place. When he opened his eyes, his look was caught by Harry, and he couldn’t stop the smile he directed Harry’s way. He wanted to thank him for bringing him here, but thank you seemed like insufficient praise. 

“You like it,” Harry said simply, a contented smile on his face. “I hoped you would.”

“I do. Harry, this place—” And to his horror, he choked up a bit. “It’s very special. Thank you for showing me this.”

Harry ducked his head a bit, obscuring his face from Louis’ view. “I’m glad you like it. It’s special to me, too.”

They stood in silence for a while, taking in the quiet noise of the falls and the wildlife before Harry broke the silence. “I came hiking here the first time I ever really came to Colorado.”

Louis wondered what he meant by that, but he didn’t pry. Instead, he watched as Harry tilted his face to the sky as he spoke as though he could only speak the words if he avoided Louis’ gaze. 

“I’d only ever come for Sundance to do promotional stuff. Never bothered exploring much. But when I bought Britney and started looking for a permanent place for her, my sister suggested Eagle County. She and her husband like to ski, so they spend time in Vail. She thought there might be some places to check out nearby. So I flew out here to look at the ranch next to Hank’s that was for sale. And I—never wanted to leave.”

Harry turned his head towards him and locked eyes. “I took one look at my ranch and knew I had to have it. I could see the potential and what kind of life Britney could have here—what kind of life  _ I  _ could have here. And at first I thought I could buy it and just visit, put one of Hank’s employees in charge—Shawn. Seemed like a good kid. Very enthusiastic.”

Louis snorted. Harry just shot him a smile and continued. 

“But then Hank sent me here. Told me to take a walk and fall in love. And I didn’t really understand what he meant until I did just that. I hiked to just this spot and fell even more in love with this place. And that’s when I knew I wasn’t going back to LA. Wasn’t going back to my old life where I never felt as at peace as I did right then.”

Louis let Harry’s words hang in the air around them. He didn’t think Harry was really looking for a response, maybe just some understanding. And that he could give him. He tucked a hand in Harry’s as they breathed in the moment.

As soon as they walked into the boathouse of Iron Mountain Hot Springs the next day, Louis heard Kim’s squeal of joy at their arrival. He and Harry were wrapped up in a tight hug as she abandoned her post to another employee and herded them off.

“I’m so glad you managed to finally get him here, Louis! I’ve been begging him to come for so long!”

He turned a curious look on Harry. When Harry had said Kim wanted him to visit, he’d thought that meant he just hadn’t been here in a while, not that he’d never been here at all. 

“I’m excited to try it out,” he said instead of addressing the discrepancy. “Sounds really relaxing.”

“Oh, it is! We have sixteen mineral soaking pools, so you can try them all out and find one that feels right for you both. Each one’s got a different temperature, so you might need to hop around a bit to find the best one for you. And then after your soak, you can either swim in our freshwater pool or relax in the jetted spa area. And if you get hungry, stop in at the cafe. All on us, so don’t mind the cost!”

Louis shook his head and nudged Harry in the ribs. “What? She’s not going to let me pay.”

Kim whirled around to throw a stern look at them. “Absolutely not! As if you haven’t done enough for me.”

She didn’t elaborate, but it set Louis to wondering if there was something more to what she had said. 

“So are you staying in town tonight?”

“Yeah, staying at Hotel Colorado for a few days.”

Kim stopped abruptly in her tracks to look back at them. “Ohhhhh, a romantic getaway then! My goodness, Louis. You’re obviously quite something, but you must be so special to tear our Harry away from his horses.”

Louis bit his bottom lip as they trailed after her. He didn’t dare look at Harry. The more Kim spilled about this, the more questions he had. So did Harry never take people he was seeing away for the weekend?

After they showered, they slipped into a few different pools until finding one that seemed to suit them both. It overlooked the river with gorgeous views of the mountains in the distance. 

Louis swam up to the point closest to the river to look out at the view. Harry slid up behind him, his hands caressing his arms as he pressed a kiss to Louis’ shoulder. Everything about this weekend had felt so incredibly intimate and yet his mind flooded with questions after hearing Kim talk for five minutes. 

He tried to just relax into Harry’s touch though and leaned back into his body. Did it matter if he had so many questions when whatever this was between them was fleeting? Someday—probably fairly soon if he had to guess—he would be leaving Colorado and Harry. 

As he looked out at the river view with Harry’ lips on his skin and his body warm in the healing minerals of the soaking pool, he choked back the lump in his throat.

  
  


A late summer evening settled over the ranch. Louis chewed his bottom lip and then looked across the firepit at Niall. “So how close are we to finishing this album?”

Niall’s fingers slipped on the strings at the question causing a sound that made them both cringe. “Well, we’ve got a good few songs now, don’t we.”

Niall hadn’t said it as a question. They both knew they had plenty of songs to fill an album. It was really just a matter if they had enough songs to please Niall. Neither of them said anything, so Niall began to strum again. A new melody played from his fingertips as he hummed a bit to himself. Louis sat and listened quietly until the notes trailed off into the darkness.

“Need a few more good tunes before I record, I’m thinking,” Niall finally said. “Maybe a ballad or two.”

“Okay.” There was really no telling how long it would take to come up with one or two ballads good enough to satisfy Niall. Could be two days. Could be two weeks. Maybe longer. Probably not two months though.

Louis picked up his guitar and played the beginnings of whatever song Niall had just created. Niall smiled at the sound. “Colorado was a good idea.”

The fire crackled in the pit before them. “Yeah, it was.”

“Not interrupting, am I?” Harry’s deep voice rang out as he closed the glass patio door behind him. Louis hadn’t even noticed it opening. 

“Nah,” Niall said, waving him over. “Louis could use a cuddle, I’m sure.”

Harry didn’t say anything to that but his lips twitched in the corners a bit as he sat down next to Louis on the curved wooden bench. “Whatever you’re working on sounded really good.”

Niall snorted. “Eh, just the beginning. Might be something. Might not be.”

Louis wondered for a moment how long Harry had been standing there if he’d heard them playing, but then the heat of Harry’s hand was pressing against his thigh and all thoughts left him except ones that featured Harry’s fingers pressed into his thighs as he watched Louis ride him. 

He felt himself perk up a bit at that thought. Whether Niall sensed it or not, he didn’t know, but he stood up from his chair and stretched. “Gonna go see what Shawnie’s up to. ‘Night.”

Harry’s hand left his thigh as he watched Niall walk back into the house. A small frown on his face that Louis wanted to wipe away. He’d much rather Harry’s attention be back on him. 

An easy enough task usually.

Harry’s eyes were still focused on watching Niall’s departure, so he startled a bit when Louis’ hand came to rest high up on his thigh.

“Wanna come check out my room?” Louis batted his eyelashes at him, trying to get a laugh from him. 

Harry’s lips curved into a sideways smile. He stood up and held out a hand for Louis. “Would love to. You know I haven’t seen your room here.”

“Oh. Weird. I guess we just go to your house for all our sexy times.”

“Sexy times,” Harry snorted.

“Don’t worry. Hank and Meg’s rooms are on the other side of this place. You can shout my name as loud as you like.”

Harry honked out a laugh as Louis led him through the house. “Great. Won’t Niall hear?”

“Nah, he’ll be at Shawn’s the rest of the night as usual.”

“Oh. Stays there a lot, huh?”

“Yeah, most nights.”

“Mm.”

He could tell he’d lost Harry’s focus, so he peeled the tank top off himself and threw it at Harry who caught it with a grin. “Like this on you.”

“You like tank tops?”

“When they’re on you, I do. Like how it shows off your skin.”

“You sound like a creep.”

“Just a creep for you, baby. Been thinking about your skin since I first saw you in that tree.”

“Or a serial killer.”

“Heyyy—”

They’d reached his bedroom door, so he flung it open and pushed Harry inside. “Stop pouting. I’m still gonna ride you on my bed even though you’re a creep.”

Harry crowded him towards the bed. “Mm, gonna ride me, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m getting really good at riding, you know?” Louis grinned. “Liam’s a good teacher.”

Harry made a guttural noise. “You better be talking about horses.” 

Louis laughed as he sat on the bed and scooted back. “Take off your clothes and get into bed, cowboy.”

Harry began unbuttoning his shirt, his creepiest smile on his face. “I like the sound of that—you calling me cowboy.”

Louis rolled his eyes, but then couldn’t help but add, “Keep the hat on.”

With a laugh, Harry rucked his jeans down his long legs and quickly pulled them off. His attention wandered for just a moment, his eye catching on something in the corner, but when Louis turned to look it was just his open suitcase, nothing out of the ordinary. 

In the next moment Harry propped himself on the bed wearing only a cowboy hat and a smile. He tipped his hat at Louis. “Ready to ride?”

Louis wandered out towards the stables when Hank appeared around back. 

“You taking a break?”

“Yeah, Niall had to take a call from his manager.”

“Ah, it’ll be a while then, yeah?”

“Probably. We’re getting pretty close to being done writing, so I think he’s just checking up on when we might be back in LA.”

Hank didn’t say anything to that, just stared out across the horizon and tipped his hat back. “You want to go for a ride? I was gonna check on the ponds and the stream.”

“Sounds good.” 

They set off across Hank’s property, the heat of the day warming his skin. With one of Hank’s old hats set atop his head, he felt like a proper cowboy. He hadn’t ever been in this direction, and it was staggering to think how much land Hank really owned. 

They rode by both of the ponds and the bubbling stream that flowed through a corner of the property. It looked like a postcard, almost unreal in its beauty. And it hit him how at peace he felt here.

He hadn’t had any idea what coming to Colorado with Niall would be like, but he didn’t think he’d feel so—content here. And it wasn’t just the scenery. It was everything—Hank, the horses, the ranch, Eagle County—Harry. 

It brought both he and Niall inspiration for their music, but it brought him more than that, a peace he hadn’t felt in so long. It was odd to not be able to describe it in his head. He was so used to being able to define his feelings and put them into words and songs, that it was a little unnerving to be unable to put a finger on the emotions welling up inside him.

He blinked some of it away. Better to enjoy himself and be in the moment. 

When they returned to the house, Niall was nowhere to be found. He sat on the edge of his bed and played the ballad they’d been working on. No words yet though. He wanted to get some sense from Niall what the song was about before he helped write lyrics, so he contented himself with playing around with the melody.

He heard a door slam somewhere in the house. Maybe the wind had taken it. And then Niall appeared in the doorway, his face pale, stricken. “What’s wrong? What happened? Was it management? Did they—”

“No.” Niall shook his head with a bitter laugh. “No, no, my career is great. As always. It comes first, you know.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, just that the label wants us to come back to LA to record soon, and I went to talk to Shawn about it and he was busy packing his bags.”

“Why? Where’s he going?”

“Off to do Harry’s bidding. Gonna go travel around picking up horses for the next month.”

“Month?”

“Month.”

“So there I am stood in front of him about to ask him to come with me, and he’s packing up to leave without talking to me about it at all!”

“Fuck.” That didn’t sound good. “Did you say anything?”

“Yeah, I said see ya fucking later.”

“Did you really?”

“No! Jesus. I just said goodbye. And you know, I’ll be heading back to LA soon, and I might be gone by the time he’s back.”

“And what did he say to that?”

“He said he’d hoped to be back in time to say goodbye. Looked at me all sad. Like I was the one breaking up with him.” Niall walked over and face planted on Louis’ bed.

“Fucking hell. Well, I don’t want to tell you what to do, but maybe you should talk to him about it.”

Niall lifted his head. “And say what? I guess you don’t feel the same as me? Sorry, I’m in love with you?”

“Yeah, be honest with him.” 

Niall just mumbled something unintelligible into his pillow. 

“When’s he leave?”

“Sometime tomorrow.”

Louis didn’t have anything to say to that, so he kept quiet. Just sat with Niall in the moment. 

“What would you say to him if you could?”

Niall sat up and wiped his eyes, a bit of a stubborn look on his face as though he didn’t like Louis seeing him emotional like this. “You wouldn’t by chance be trying to make me write a song, now would you?”

Louis shrugged and stood up and grabbed a guitar, handing it to Niall. Then, he sat down at the small desk and opened his laptop. 

“Whatcha got, Horan?”

Niall played the melody they’d been working on with Louis typing the words as they came. They didn’t add up to a song, but they were the beginning of something. Maybe the beginning of the end of their time here in Colorado, if this was the last song Niall decided they needed.

Later, after they’d drank a few beers, and he’d sent Niall to bed. He laid awake thinking about why Harry would choose now of all times to send Shawn on some work trip. Trepidation washed over him. It took quite a while to fall asleep as lyrics wove through his mind.

_ My mind is complicated. Find it hard to rearrange it. But I’ll have to find a way somehow.  _

He woke up fairly early, well before Niall anyway. Meg made him some scrambled eggs to go with his toast and coffee, and the more he thought about the Niall and Shawn situation, the more it seemed to lead directly to Harry. 

By the time he took a final bite of his breakfast, Louis was ready to confront him about it.

Niall still hadn’t come out of his bedroom, so he put on some boots and stomped over to hash some things out with Harry. No one answered at the gate, which just pissed him off more because it meant that Shawn must already be gone, and Harry was clearly already up and about.

He headed back onto Hank’s property and walked the fence line, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of Harry. When he was in sight of the stables, he stopped and waited, figuring Harry would make an appearance at some point, which he did. 

Lacey alerted Harry to Louis’ presence before Louis could even shout over to him. She came barrelling towards the fence, bleating loudly, as Harry followed in her wake. Harry shot him a dimpled grin that Louis wasn’t ready to reciprocate, and it died on his face after he got a look at Louis’ face.

“Hey.”

“Morning.” He decided to just get on with it. “So any particular reason you suddenly decided to send Shawn away when you knew we wouldn’t be here much longer?”

Harry’s jaw twitched in his cheek. “Yeah, I did have a particular reason.”

“Care to share it with me? Because my best friend is laying in bed heartbroken right now.”

“Heartbroken,” Harry echoed with a mumbled snort. 

“Yeah,  _ heartbroken _ . What the fuck is going on?”

Harry folded his arms over his chest. “I sent him away for his own good.”

“Is he a child? And what the fuck do you mean for his own good?”

“You and I both know that these kinds of relationships don’t last. I’m just protecting him.”

Louis can feel the anger rising in his chest. It was probably best that there was a fence between them right now. “Shawn is a grown man. He doesn’t need your protection. And if you took your head out of your ass, you’d see that what’s between Niall and Shawn is something special. I’ve never seen Niall be this into someone. Shawn isn’t just some fling to him.”

“Well, then why didn’t Niall say anything before now? He let him go.”

“He actually was coming to do just that, but when he showed up, Shawn was packing his bags to leave. Seemed to him like it sure didn’t take much for Shawn to run off.”

“He was just leaving before Niall left him.”

“Niall wasn’t going to leave him, jackass!” Lacey interrupted with a bray next to the fence as she attempted to reach Louis. “He was going to ask Shawn to come with him. But good job at interfering and ruining a perfectly happy relationship.”

Harry still stood there, a mulish expression on his face. “Niall’s a pop star. It’s not like he’s going to end up with a kid from Eagle County, Colorado.”

“I know you hate LA and the industry, but that doesn’t mean you’re right about everyone who’s a part of it. You apparently don’t know shit about Niall. I know you think you’re being kind to Shawn, but—”

“Kinder than to myself,” Harry mumbled, kicking his boot in the dirt.

“You shouldn’t have interfered.” Louis sighed and stepped back from the fence. “I need to get back and see if Niall’s up yet. He could probably use some comfort.”

He turned and left Harry looking after him.

  
  


Louis let a few days pass before he decided enough was enough.

He was still pissed as hell at Harry about interfering like this, especially since he had this much sway over Shawn. But the most important thing here was that this situation be righted. 

“Okay, get up.”

“ _ Mphhlmpp _ ,” Niall moaned from beneath his pillows.

“Don’t make me do that thing you hate.”

Niall sat up immediately. “I’m up! I’m up!”

Louis sat down next to him. “You can’t just lay around doing nothing. Unless you’re deciding to put your life on hold until he comes back, which I’m guessing isn’t an option to the label.”

Niall shrugged, his face sullen. 

“So this means you’ve got to go see him.”

Niall flung himself back onto his bed. “Why? So he can reject me to my face?”

“You’re Niall fucking Horan. You’re acting like you’re not one of the biggest pop stars in the world who could have anyone he wanted. And also I have something to tell you about this.”

Niall shot back up. “What? Have you heard from Shawn? Did you talk to him? What did he say? Did he ask about me?”

“No—” Niall sank back down, throwing an arm over his eyes. “But I know why he left.”

“Because he doesn’t like me like I like him. I already knew that. Thanks.”

“Christ. So dramatic. It was Harry. He’s the one who sent Shawn away. And I talked to him, and he made it clear he did it on purpose.”

Niall sat back up, his forehead crinkled. “But why? Does Harry hate me, too? Why does everyone hate me?”

Louis sighed. “No one hates you. Harry’s just an idiot. An idiot with a lot of bad memories of the entertainment industry and all the people in it.”

Niall laid back down on his bed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“What? Of course, it matters. Shawn never would have just left on his own. And Harry filled his head with nonsense about how you weren’t serious about him. I mean, it’s clear Shawn relies too much on Harry’s opinion, but they’ve been friends a while and Harry’s basically his mentor and boss, so—”

Niall huffed out a humorless laugh. “No, Lou. If Shawn’s mind can be changed that easily then he’s not in love with me.”

Louis stood up. “He  _ is _ in love with you. Who wouldn’t be? He just has a really dumb friend that he let make him insecure. It’s clear from what Harry said that Shawn’s in love with you. Now get up. Let’s finish the song and then you’re going to find out where he is and go sing it to him.”

“I am?”

“You are. You’re a singer. This should be how any singer wins back their man.”

He was relieved to see the smile back on Niall’s face. “Okay. You’re right. This is stupid. I can’t let Shawn get away without telling him how I feel.”

“Good. You both deserve that chance.”

“Well, don’t just stand there. Go get your guitar.”

Louis grinned and went to fetch his guitar and laptop. “Have you noticed we’ve written a lot of melodies first before the lyrics? A bit different for us, yeah?”

“Yeah, I guess sometimes we just had to wait for our stories to unfold.”

“I guess so.” Something caught at the back of his mind. Something about his own story in all this. But he tried to set it aside for Niall’s sake. 

They played through what they had of the song and then began adding the story—the one that was meant to win Shawn over enough to be convinced of the strength of what he and Niall had found in each other. 

_ “Let’s just go back to basics. Forget about what’s come and gone.” _

“Yeah, Lou, nice. Write those lines down. I like those. And maybe the next line could be  _ ‘Cause I hate to see us like this. Breaking up on nights just like this.” _

“Okay, and then something romantic. You’re trying to win him back.”

_ “We should be shooting for them stars of gold.” _

“Beautiful.” Louis typed the lyrics in place, and they started over adding the new lyrics in. “Now what are you asking of him?”

Niall strummed his guitar a bit, just thinking. “I want him to tell me he wants this, too. I know we haven’t known each other for that long, but we’ve come so far from where we started.”

“ _ So tell me you want it _ ,” Louis sang.

“ _ A thousand miles away from the day that we started, _ ” Niall sang in response.

“And you’re here to put your heart on the line. You’re writing this song to just be honest with him.” Louis thought for a moment. “Maybe something like,  _ I’m standing here with you just tryna be honest. _ ”

Niall cast his eyes down at his guitar and sang. “ _ If honesty means telling you the truth, well I’m still in love with you _ .” 

Louis looked away. Niall was always as honest as possible with his lyrics. That’s why they made such great partners in this. But this was Niall actually putting his heart on the line. It was a lot. The room seemed to fill up with the anticipation of Niall singing this to the person it was written about—who it was written for.

“It’s the chorus,” Louis finally said.

“Yeah, it is.”

“So—the song’s basically done then.”

“Let’s go through the song a few more times and then—” Niall took a shaky breath. “Let’s get it recorded.”

It didn’t take long to get something that sounded pretty good, and then Niall stood up from his desk. “I guess we’re—done.”

“I guess we are.”

Niall patted his shoulder. “I gotta go see about a guy.”

“I know you do.” Louis stood up and wrapped Niall in a hug. “I’ll take care of everything here, okay? I’ll pack everything up and send it on to LA.” 

“Louis—” Niall’s voice cracked. “Thank you.”

Louis shook his head. “Love you, Ni. Go get him.”

By nightfall of the next day, Louis found himself outside Harry’s front gate. 

He had spent most of the day packing up Niall’s belongings into boxes. When he’d gone into his own bedroom, it sat heavily in his gut that it really wouldn’t take that long to pack up his life here.

How could that be? When it felt like everything that meant something was here? He was packing up to go home to a rented house in LA that he felt anything but at home in. Somehow in just a few months, this guest room, this ranch, Colorado and everything here—everyone here—felt more like home. 

He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with these thoughts.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see a text from Niall, a preview of a photo of he and Shawn grinning in a selfie. Before he could open the text, he heard a noise on the other side of the gate.

“Hey.” Harry stood on the other side, watching him. “Was just walking over to Hank’s to see you.”

“Hey.” He smiled and raised his phone up for Harry to see the photo. 

Harry tipped his hat back and looked at the photo. Then, he dropped his eyes, scraping one boot in the dirt. “I saw. Was hoping maybe since I helped fix things between them you’d forgive me.”

“Oh.” He motioned toward the gate between them, and Harry jumped into action, opening it and ushering him through. “I mean, yeah, I didn’t know you’d helped, but—”

“I told Niall where to find him,” Harry interrupted. “And I talked to Shawn. Um—told him I was maybe wrong about Niall. Not that Shawn wouldn’t have been convinced of that once Niall showed up. Just um—wanted him to make sure he knew I supported him if he wanted to leave Colorado.”

“Good. I’m sure that meant a lot to him.” 

Harry shrugged. 

He hated this. The air between them felt fraught with awkward tension. He wanted Harry to say something about  _ them _ , not just Shawn and Niall, but he wasn’t even sure what it was he wanted to hear. Did he want Harry to ask him to stay? 

As they walked towards Harry’s house, he shook his head at himself. Of course, Harry wasn’t going to ask him to stay. He’d barely given his blessing to Niall and Shawn. They walked in silence until Harry opened the door for him. “Want something to drink?”

“Sure.”

Louis headed towards the kitchen, and Harry followed, pulling open the refrigerator door and took out two bottles of beer, uncapping them on a magnet for that purpose. He tipped the bottle back to drink as Harry leaned back against the counter and watched him for a moment before taking a drink.

“So the album must be done.”

Fuck, Louis did not want to talk about Niall’s album. He set his beer down on the kitchen island next to him and walked into Harry’s space. What he wanted was to forget for a little while that he was leaving. 

He reached for Harry, and that’s all it took. 

Harry cupped his face with his hands and looked a bit frantic as he searched his face for one brief moment before his lips were on his. Maybe Harry was trying to forget something, too.

His fingers fumbled as they unbuttoned Harry’s shirt until he reached the firm muscles of his chest. He spread his hands out over him, memorizing the feel of Harry’s body, before pushing the shirt over his shoulders and sending it to the floor. 

Harry’s hands wandered beneath his own shirt before pulling it up and over his head, breaking the kiss and tossing the shirt to join his. Harry’s lips left a trail of sensation across his shoulder to his neck as he nipped at the skin there, sending a shiver through him. “Please—Harry—”

“Anything,” Harry murmured, the words whispering across his skin. “You can have anything.”

Louis didn’t respond to the empty words, just wrapped his arms around Harry and held on.

Harry woke him the next morning with heated kisses and slow touches. And although they didn’t say it, Louis knew every kiss and every touch was the last. There wasn’t any reason to stay in Colorado now. Niall wasn’t even here anymore.

After Harry had fallen back asleep, he stood in the doorway with his shirt in his hands, trying to imprint this image in his mind. Harry with his curls against the white pillows, his face relaxed in sleep, the ink of his tattoos stark in contrast to the skin normally shielded from the sun. 

It seemed like the very best way to remember him, vulnerable like this. This was the Harry who had let him in just a bit. The one who let him see what lay beneath the walls he’d built up over the years. The Harry he was in—

He stopped the thought. It would do no good to examine his feelings for Harry too closely when he was leaving as soon as he could get a flight out of here. 

Tugging his shirt over his head, he walked out the back door with Lissie at his side, giving her a few pats as he looked around the place for Lacey. “You’re a good girl, Lissie Lou. You take good care of him okay?”

She seemed to understand and gave his hand a lick before turning around to head back inside the house. 

Wandering farther and farther into the property, he ended up at the tree he’d once climbed to retrieve Niall’s drone. He stood under it looking up into its branches. The person who had climbed down out of this tree that day seemed like an entirely different one than the one standing here now beneath it. 

Something nudged his hand, and he looked down at the small goat beside him. “Hey, Lacey. Glad you came to say goodbye.”

She bleated loudly, and he patted her head. “I know. I’m sure I’ll see you again someday.”

Maybe if he ended up buying a horse from Hank, he could stop over and see her. Or maybe that would be a little too hard on his heart. Years from now, when he was able to think about these months with more fondness than loss, maybe then, he could return to visit.

Lacey trotted away towards the barn, and he wiped his eyes roughly before climbing the fence back onto Hank’s property. He walked slowly up to Hank’s back door, raising his head only when he heard Meg’s voice at the door.

“Come in and have a cup of coffee while I make you some eggs.”

Louis nodded as he followed her inside. He was surprised to see Hank sitting at the table. It might still be early for Louis, but Hank was up and about much earlier than this usually. His surprise must have shown on his face.

“Well, figured we’d have one last meal together before you go.”

Louis smiled, but he had to look down at the table so Hank wouldn’t see in his eyes the emotion he was trying to hide. He was pretty sure Hank saw it anyway when he finally looked up. 

“You ever decide you want a horse to keep you company in California, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks, Hank. I may take you up on that.”

“Wouldn’t want your riding skills to go to waste.”

Louis coughed into his fist.

When he stood up from the table, his phone buzzed in the pocket of his jeans. Niall had texted a photo of he and Shawn lounging next to Niall’s pool. 

_ The jets ready and waiting for you. See ya soon! _

As he stuffed clothing into his suitcase, he wished for things—for a person—who would never be his. No matter how much had happened between them, he knew he hadn’t been enough, not even close to enough, to convince Harry to take a chance on him. Harry hadn’t even wanted to let Shawn take a chance on Niall for fuck’s sake. 

As the jet took off over the tops of the mountains, he watched out the window until they were lost beneath the clouds. When he could no longer see any part of this place that had begun to mean so much to him, the true pain of leaving hit. He knew he couldn’t stay, but it felt so damn wrong to leave.

  
  
  


Louis would be lying if he said that he felt good about being back in LA. The first thing he did was flop onto his bed and not leave the house for a few days. 

His place in LA was beautiful. Not really his taste exactly, but someone had clearly put in the work to make the place look luxurious before renting it out to wealthy people who like to fuck around in Silver Lake. He didn’t really remember how long he’d been living here; he was gone so often. But he doesn’t remember ever coming back here and feeling so out of place.

He tried not to dwell on this ache that felt like homesickness. Instead, he tried to fill his time with Netflix and ice cream and when he wasn’t wallowing in self-pity, piles of paperwork and catching up on the life he had before he’d gone to Colorado.

Did he even have the right to feel like this? He’d been through break ups before, but did this even count, when they’d never even spoken about their relationship as one? Was he just being dramatic? But when he sat alone at sunset on his rooftop deck with downtown views, his heart didn’t care whether it was ever real or just in his head. It sat sore and heavy in his chest, reminding him that he’s lost something. 

To be honest, he hadn’t been expecting to hear from Niall as soon as he did. Not when he and Shawn were in this renewed honeymoon stage of their relationship. So he was surprised by the text he woke up to only a week after being back.

_ Think you could make it up to my house to work on something? _

Curious, he called Niall. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“You just wake up?”

Louis cleared the sleep from his voice. “No.”

“Liar.”

“Fine, it’s only like what—”

“It’s almost eleven, Tommo.”

“Oh.”

“Thought you’d turned into an early riser.”

“Don’t have anything to get up for now.” Christ, that sounded depressing. “I mean, there aren’t any horses to ride in my backyard, so—”

“You could get one. You know Hank would let you have your pick. There are stables in Southern California, you know. Get yourself a piece of Colorado to bring here. Could rename Una as Princess Snowflake.”

“Yeah.” That wasn’t the piece he was missing the most though. “I’ll think about it. Anyway, what’s up?”

“I’ve got an idea for a song.”

Louis sat up. “Really? Thought the album was done.”

“Eh, thought I might have another ballad in me. Could use some help fleshing it out though. Final song though, I swear.”

Louis snorted. “Yeah, until you get in the studio and have a hundred more ideas.”

“Nah. I think we’re sorted out for the most part. We’ve made a solid album, Lou. We did it. I just think there’s a better ending to the story.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

Louis wasn’t there in an hour. But Niall would surely realize he was just stuck in the endless sea of LA traffic. The day was too warm to have his car windows down, but he kept them open anyway. There wasn’t much of a breeze going as slowly as he was driving, but it was somehow better than the stale air of the air conditioner.

His jaw clenched at the thought of  _ where _ he was missing. No cool mountain breezes here. He turned the volume up on the car stereo to try to block his own thoughts. 

By the time he arrived, his shirt stuck to his back with sweat, and he regretted his stubborn decision to forgo air conditioning. When the door to Niall’s absurdly large mansion swung open, he was a bit surprised to be swallowed up in a hug from Shawn.

“Good to see you!” Shawn released him. 

“Uh, you, too. Niall around?”

Shawn stared hard at him for a moment. “Yeah, he’s by the pool.”

The glances being thrown at him were making him a bit nervous as they made their way through to the back of the house. He reached for the glass door’s handle, but Shawn stepped in front of him, blocking the way.

“You look—” Shawn’s face crinkled up in thought. “Sad.”

Christ. “Yeah, well—” Fucking hell, what was he supposed to say? 

“Yeah, well, what?”

“Yeah, well, I’m not great, okay? Now, can I please go write you a love song with your boyfriend? I’m sure that’s what he has in mind.”

Shawn stepped back and gave him a smile, though it turned a bit sad at the corners of his mouth. “You know, Harry’s just—”

Louis slid open the door. “Let me stop you right there. At some point, I will talk to you about Harry. I already know you and Niall are the real thing. And you’re going to be around when someday I need to talk this through, but today isn’t that day. Niall can mine my heartbreak for his next album or something.”

Shawn squeezed his arm, a sign of comfort, Louis supposed.

“Hey, I resent that,” Niall called out from his lounge chair.

“No, you don’t.”

“Fine, I don’t. And if you don’t want to talk about Harry that’s okay, but you’re gonna have to really put it aside if you’re going to help me write this sappy love song I’ve got swirling in my head.”

Shawn gave Niall a quick peck on the lips and wandered back into the house. “I’ll leave you both to it. I need to make a few phone calls.”

“So song concept,” Niall began. “The theme of it is that I see the two of us in black and white, like an old photograph or one you’d take of a couple on their wedding day.”

“I knew you were going to be like this,” Louis snorted. “But continue, I like it.”

Niall punched him in the arm. “Shut up. Anyway, I’ve got a chorus going I think, but I’m not sure where to start. 

“How about at the beginning? Those first nights when you two got together.”

A slow smile spread over Niall’s face as he remembered. 

“That first night, we walked back to his little house on Harry’s property, and I didn’t want the night to end. And then he invited me inside. He fumbled with his keys trying to open the door.” Niall laughed. “And I wasn’t even sure we were on a date, but when he fumbled with the keys so bad, I knew for sure we were. And I kissed him. Before he ever got the door open.”

“Sounds like a good place to start.”

As the day faded into night, the song sounded more and more like the final piece to the album, a culmination of time spent with friends and family and finding love. Shawn had flipped the pool lights on for them now, and they sat bathed in their glow, having a beer to celebrate.

“I should probably get going.” Not like he had anywhere to be, but he figured he should leave Niall and Shawn to their happiness for a while. 

“Yeah, okay. I’d like you in the studio when I record if possible. Just in case we need to make any changes.”

“Sounds good. You got studio time lined up?”

“Yeah, I’ll have my assistant call yours.”

Louis saluted him, thinking of how they’d snapped back into the mode of their lives here. 

As he drove back to Silver Lake, the high of writing with Niall faded into the darkening sky, leaving him with the ache that he was coming to know meant he missed Colorado. When he pulled into the garage of this place that he found so lacking now, he decided he needed to make some changes. 

Just because he had held onto the thought he might have a future in Colorado, didn’t mean he couldn’t have a different one here in LA. He didn’t have to go back to resuming his life here. He could change it. As he walked upstairs, he texted the last broker he used and let him know he was ready to buy something. Maybe something on a beach. Malibu. Maybe something near some stables. Maybe he would buy a horse.

He actually fell asleep easily, dreaming of open spaces.

When he woke up, he already had potential listings texted to him from his broker and appointments to look at a few in Malibu. 

Driving along the Pacific Coast Highway lifted his spirits a bit, and the places he looked at in Malibu were gorgeous, full of light and sand and water. His broker warned him to choose quickly, but he needed to sleep on it at the very least. Something still clung tight in his heart that needed to loosen. 

The drive home in the heat of the late afternoon had him feeling melancholy again. His head was a mess. He hoped to hear from Niall’s assistant about recording soon; he needed a distraction. 

He parked his car in the garage and walked up the steps to his front door to grab the mail on his way inside, but there was a cowboy sitting outside his door. He stopped in his tracks, staring with astonishment at Harry sitting on his doorstep in a stupid cowboy hat, looking terrible. His eyes were just as clear and green as in Louis’ dreams, but there were purple shadows beneath them and he looked more tired than Louis had ever seen him. 

“You left.” The hoarseness of Harry’s voice cut through him.

It took him a second to even respond, and when he did, he didn’t come up with much. “I did.”

Harry stood up, and Louis walked up the last step to meet him. He didn’t say anything, and Louis had never felt more off kilter in his life. Why was he here? He couldn’t be sure, but he also couldn’t deny the beat of hope that flickered alive in his heart at the sight of him.

“Do you want to come in?”

Harry nodded, and Louis fumbled a bit with his key to the front door. Harry took his boots off at the door and looked around as Louis moved further into the house. “You want something to drink, or—”

Harry stood stiffly just inside the door. “Your house is really nice.”

“Eh, I’m just renting it. A lot of this stuff’s not even mine really. Just went today to look at a few places to buy though. By the beach. Maybe somewhere big enough to put in a recording studio—”

Harry interrupted as he walked towards him. “I have plenty of room for a recording studio in my house.”

It felt like his brain had ceased to function correctly. What exactly was Harry saying? “I—yeah, you do.”

Harry closed most of the distance between them, his brows furrowed in something like pain. “Come home to me, Louis. Come back to Colorado. Or I’ll stay. I’ll move back to LA. I could find land nearby. Buy some old ranch an hour or two from here. Fuck, I had lots of pretty words planned to say to convince you to give us a chance, but now that I’m here looking at you, my mind is blank. They all boiled down to just a few words though, just be with me, Louis. Please.”

Louis threw his arms around Harry’s neck, bringing their lips together, happiness pouring through him at Harry’s words, the ones he’d longed to hear, pretty or not. He broke away from the kiss with a grin, noticing Harry’s hat tipped back precariously. “You can leave the pretty words to me.”

Harry’s face split into a dimpled smile, erasing some of the tension that was there before. “Deal.”

Louis squawked as Harry lifted him in his arms and headed towards a hallway, but then stood there not knowing which door to open. 

“Second door on the left. And don’t drop me.”

With a snort, Harry practically kicked the door shut behind him. “Not gonna drop you. Except on your bed.”

Louis landed with a small  _ oof _ just before Harry crawled over him, tossing his hat onto the bedside table and boxing him in with his hands planted on either side of him. Harry seemed to be trying to memorize the sight of him. Louis reached for him then. “I missed you. So much.”

Something like relief flooded Harry’s face. “God, Louis. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“Wanna show me how much,” Louis said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Harry huffed out a laugh against his lips. “Planning on it.”

Louis entangled his fingers in the silky curls at the nape of Harry’s neck as he opened himself to Harry’s warm mouth, his soft lips. He’d expected Harry to devour him, but that’s not what this was at all. This was careful, delicate, deliberate. 

Harry’s hands rucked up his t-shirt, his lips leaving to press soft kisses down his chest and belly, and it soothed something deep within him. The tightness that held his heart hostage ever since he left Colorado loosened, a knot unravelling in his chest. 

When Harry sat back on his knees, he felt the loss, his hands reaching for him involuntarily and then falling back to the bed as he watched Harry unbutton his shirt, hurried in his movements to get it off of him. He stripped it off his broad shoulders, and Louis drank in the sight of him like this. 

He ran his fingers through the dusting of hair on Harry’s chest down to the top of his jeans and the prominent bulge there. Harry sucked in a breath. “Take your clothes off, Lou.”

Louis scooted back a bit from beneath Harry to quickly tug his shirt up and over his head, sending it to the floor, before fumbling at the fly of his jean shorts. And then Harry’s hands were there, tugging them down the length of his legs and discarding them next to the bed. 

He hissed at the sensation of Harry’s fingers at the waistband of his boxer briefs as he pulled them down over his erection. “Now who has too many clothes on.”

Harry climbed off the bed then, quickly unbuttoning his jeans and hopping out of them, before motioning at the nightstand. “Here?”

“Mm.”

Harry opened the drawer to take out lube and a condom, tossing them onto the bed before hopping back into bed next to him, propping himself up on one elbow to look at Louis. “Hi.”

Louis gave him a silly grin to match the one on Harry’s face. “Hi.”

Harry leaned in, his mouth brushing against Louis’ lips, and his hand brushing against Louis’ cock. “You really did miss me.” 

Louis moaned as Harry’s fingers encircled him and his lips traveled down over his jaw until they reached just behind his ear to a spot that had Louis seeing sparks behind his eyes. “Missed you, missed this.”

Louis’ words were rewarded with the press of Harry’s body against him, skin against skin, and then, Harry had rolled him over onto his back, climbing over him once again. His curls, grown a bit longer over the months Louis had come to know him, fell in a short, soft curtain around his face, and Louis found himself tucking a curl behind his ear as he looked in awe at the expression in Harry’s eyes. It was everything he could have hoped for but hadn’t dared to think was possible.

Their kisses grew more frantic as their bodies slid against each other, sweat mingling. And then, Harry was rolling them over so that his hands could grip and squeeze at Louis’ ass, rocking him into a rhythm against him. 

Louis had had enough of the teasing. He pushed up from Harry’s chest and reached for the condom. He ripped it open and slid it over Harry’s cock. When he looked into the green blaze of Harry’s eyes for a moment, he saw Harry’s cowboy hat out of the corner of his eye. With a smirk, he reached for it and perched it on his head.

“Fuck.” Harry choked out the word.

He grabbed the lube and slicked up Harry’s cock and put more on his fingers. Taking a breath, he slid one finger inside as he watched Harry’s jaw clench. Harry’s fingers pressed into his thigh, seeming to make an effort to stop himself from taking over. “Louis—please—”

“Hmmm—I do like to hear you beg.”

The gutteral sound from Harry’s throat just made Louis laugh. Louis was done teasing though. He took another breath and raised himself over Harry’s cock, relaxing his muscles as he took Harry in ever so slowly. Harry’s fingertips pressed into his thighs so hard now as he tried to keep control of himself.

Louis seated himself fully and pressed his hands to Harry’s chest, a smirk on his face. “Been missing all the riding I used to do.”

The loud burst of laughter from Harry nearly unseated him. 

“Didn’t know I was riding a bull,” Louis mumbled, adjusting the hat on his head.

“Christ. Then don’t make me laugh.”

Louis began to move, putting an end to any more laughter for now. Raising himself slowly up and then sinking back down in a slow rhythm. He watched Harry’s eyes as they darkened beneath him. 

Both pleasure and torture mingled in the expression on Harry’s face until finally his hands left Louis’ thighs and began to explore every inch of him they could reach until his composure finally gave way. Louis gasped as Harry took his cock in his hand, stroking him in the same slow rhythm, urging Louis on. 

His body chased the pleasure from Harry’s hand and then his cock, not knowing which to focus on. His movements became less practiced, more erratic until finally Harry planted his feet into the bed and began to thrust into him. 

Louis cried out his pleasure to the sun’s dying rays as they poured in between the blinds and pooled in stark lines onto Harry’s body. Harry called out his name in a chant as he spilled into him, gasping and still reaching for Louis. And Louis knew that they were enough. Together, they were enough. 

Harry peered into the refrigerator before turning around to look at him, one eyebrow raised.“You have no food in your house.”

“I have ice cream.”

“So you’ve been living on ice cream?”

“Pretty much. And take out. I was—you know.”

“What?” Harry frowned looking into a cupboard and finding only tea and coffee. 

“Sad.”

“Oh.” Harry whirled around. “You um—didn’t look it. When you walked up, you just looked so—you. And beautiful. And I thought, fuck he hasn’t even missed me. But I’d shown up at your door, so I had to say something”

“Oh my god. I had one good night of sleep last night because I wrote a song with Niall yesterday. If you’d come one day earlier, I promise I would have looked as terrible as you.”

“Heyyyy—”

Louis walked into his arms, hugging him tightly around the waist. “I’ve never been more happy to see anyone in my life, Harry. I was in complete shock.”

Harry backed away from the embrace just enough to tip Louis’ chin up to kiss him softly. “I think we need to go buy food.”

Louis laughed against his lips. “Probably.”

Whole Foods wasn’t particularly busy when they got there, but it also wasn’t long before Louis could feel eyes on them. Harry stiffened at the sight of someone’s phone out and clearly taking a photo of him. But he turned away and looked back at the eggs. “For breakfast tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Louis replied. 

When they got to the meat, he saw a few people talking quietly to each other, pointing in their direction, and probably discussing whether or not it was really Harry Styles standing in the middle of Whole Foods. It made Louis anxious to get out of there. 

“Steak?”

Louis steered him back towards the cashiers. “Looks good. Let’s check out now.”

Louis didn’t feel entirely comfortable until they were back in the safety of his house. He wasn’t quite sure what to say about it, if anything. Harry whistled and unpacked the groceries as if none of it had happened, so he stayed quiet.

They ate their dinner under the twinkly lights on his roof deck, and it was the first time Louis felt genuinely at home in his own house. And if that wasn’t a sign he was making the right choice in being with Harry, he didn’t know what was. 

Louis’ phone buzzed in his pocket at the same time Harry’s did in his own. He checked the text message from Niall.

_ Looks like your man came for you after all _

How do you know that?

_ Twitter _

Niall attached a few photos, one of him and Harry grocery shopping and another of Harry at the airport in a cowboy hat. When he looked up at Harry, he saw the tension back in his face as he clicked through something on his phone. 

Harry glanced up and saw Louis watching him, and he wiped the expression off his face, turning it into something else for Louis’ eyes. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t hide from me. Did you see the photos? Is that what you’re looking at?”

Harry sighed. “It’s no big deal. But yeah, Shawn sent me the photos. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get used to it again.”

“Wait—what?”

“I’m staying. If you’ll have me.”

“Harry—”

“I thought I was fine until you came to Colorado.” Harry huffs out a breath of air. “I didn’t even know I was missing anything in my life.”

Louis snorts. “You didn’t know you were missing sex?”

“I wasn’t just missing sex. I was missing love—I was missing  _ you.  _ Even though I didn’t know you yet, I was missing  _ you _ . When you came, you showed me what was missing in my life, and I don’t want to be without it now. I don’t want to be without you. I thought my life in Colorado was enough. But it’s not. Not anymore. It’s not nearly enough for me anymore. I need you, Louis.” Harry straightened up in his chair, learning forward to take Louis’ hand. “And I’m prepared to make changes in my life. I know I seem like someone who doesn’t compromise, but I’m willing to now.”

Louis shook his head. “You complete idiot. Bring me home to Colorado, Harry. I want to go home.”


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue ~ Harry's point of view

Harry hummed the tune of the latest song he’d heard Louis working on as he guided Forrest into a trot as he and Louis rode out across the back acres of their land. He hadn’t heard all the words yet, but something about burnt romances and dying stars in the sky. He wondered briefly who Louis was writing it for, but then his mind was on to other more important things. He had ridden every inch of this land, but Louis hadn’t and that’s what he was counting on today.

Their land now stretched out nearly as wide as Hank’s ranch did after they bought some neighboring acres to Harry Tale. Watching Louis ride beside him sent a deep seated contentment through him that he hadn’t ever expected to feel. He couldn’t help but feel some pride, too, at how well Louis had taken to riding over the past year. Louis was good at everything though, so maybe it wasn’t much of a surprise.

“You’re gonna fall off your horse if you keep staring at me,” Louis called out as he entreated his own horse into a faster canter. 

Harry just snorted as he picked up the pace. “Forrest knows how to keep me in the saddle.”

He kept them going in the certain direction he wanted without much trouble. Louis seemed to be none the wiser that they were headed anywhere in particular. When the giant Gambel oak came into view, Louis went right towards it just as he’d suspected he would. 

The tree was huge with large branches that nearly reached to the ground. It clearly looked like a decent place for shade and to have their picnic lunch. 

As they reached the tree, Louis glanced over at him. “Here?”

Harry nodded, trying not to break out into a goofy smile that would give him away. As soon as Louis climbed down off his horse, he immediately made for the huge branches of the tree, clambering up into the branches. Harry smiled to himself at how he’d known Louis would do just that.

He stood beneath the branches, looking up at Louis. “You know I met you when you were in a tree.”

Louis laughed and kept climbing. “Yeah, you wanted to kill me and break Niall’s drone.”

Harry cleared his throat and pulled out the small black box from his pocket. He knelt down beneath the tree and took a long slow breath before looking back up into the trees. Nothing had ever felt more right than to be back where they’d started in a way. “Louis, could you please come down here?”

“Wait a second. I just want to climb to the t—” The movement in the branches stopped. “Oh, shit.”

Louis was looking down at him now, his gorgeous blue eyes wide and his mouth open. Harry just smiled. Louis said nothing, just began climbing back down until he reached the bottom branch just above where Harry knelt. 

“Hey,” Louis said, his voice quiet, almost reverent in the moment.

“Hi.” His face almost hurt from hard he was smiling now. He opened the box to reveal the dark tungsten band within it. “Louis, even though I didn’t know it at the time, the luckiest moment of my life was finding you in my tree.”

Louis laughed, the sound a bit watery.

“You know I’m not as good with words as you are, but until you came to Colorado, I thought I was happy. I hadn’t truly let my guard down to anyone until you came, and I had to let my walls come down or risk losing you. I’ll be forever grateful to the universe that I found you in my tree that day, and I never ever want to be without you. Louis, will you marry me?”

Louis’ eyes filled with unshed tears. “I wrote you a song.”

“What?”

“You’re ruining my proposal. I wrote you a song. Was gonna sing it to you and propose.”

“Does this mean you’re saying yes then?”

Louis dropped to the ground and held out his hand. He slid the band onto Louis’ finger and stood up, his own eyes filled with tears. 

“I love you, Harry. Of course, I’m saying yes. Besides, Lacey would never forgive me if I didn’t stay forever.”

Harry laughed against the soft press of Louis’ lips, his heart finally finding its home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my fic! Please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed it! You can reblog the fic post [here](https://allwaswell16.tumblr.com/post/617915373207142400/u-n-t-i-l-by-allwaswell16-art-by) or retweet it [here](https://twitter.com/all_was_well_16/status/1260206746896928769?s=20)! It includes the beautiful art from missytearex! Comes with bonus love from me if you reblog/retweet. lol. 
> 
> If you caught any general Pride & Prejudice vibes, you'd be correct that I used some of the relationships as inspiration for this fic. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who reads my fics and sends kudos and comments and messages and fic recs and reblogs! I can never thank you all enough for your support of my fics. I know how lucky I am!
> 
> If you are interested in reading more in this universe, you'll be happy to hear that I'm publishing the Niall/Shawn story from this fic for the Heartbreak Weather fest on October 17, 2020!


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